“Tiger King” star Carole Baskin accused Netflix producers of betraying her after the documentary focused on other aspects besides abuse of tigers.
Baskin, who is the owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida, claimed people had “missed the point” and cited Netflix’s portrayal in an interview published Friday with the Tampa Bay Times.
Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin says @netflix #TigerKing series about #JoeExotic is full of “unsavory lies.” She wrote a 3,000-word blog post refuting much of the claims made on the show about the disappearance of her husband, Don Lewis. https://t.co/WQKBo5S1Ay
— Chelsea Tatham Zukowski (@ChelseaTatham) March 27, 2020
“I just feel so angry that people have totally missed the point,” Carole told the outlet. “And the point is these cubs are being abused and exploited and the public is enabling that.”
The seven-episode docuseries tells the story behind several private tiger zoos including Carole’s cat rescue center. Carole claimed she opened the rescue to filmmakers under the pretense that the docuseries would be focused on the cruelty of the tiger trade. (RELATED: Interest In ‘Tiger King’ Docuseries Prompts Sheriff To Ask For Information On Carole Baskin’s Missing Husband)
“There’s almost no way to describe the intensity of the feeling of betrayal,” husband Howard Baskin said.
The Netflix docuseries primarily focused on Joe Exotic. Exotic, who previously ran a private tiger zoo in Oklahoma, has been sentenced to 22 years after being convicted of a murder for hire plot against Carole. Besides the murder for hire storyline, the docuseries also focused on Carole’s missing ex-husband Don Lewis. Joe Exotic accused Carole of killing her husband and feeding him to her tigers.
Carole is still hopeful that attention will be drawn to the abuse of tigers since the debut of “Tiger King” on March 20.
“I really hope what will come of this is that law enforcement will take this seriously,” Carole said. “We’ve all been screaming at the top of our lungs for 20 years that this abuse was happening, and no one was listening.”
“Now the abuse is so apparent, I hope it will encourage them to take action on it and inspire Congress to do what they can to end cub petting and private possession of big cats,” she added.