“Tiger King” star Carole Baskin said she was blindsided by what the documentary really ended up being about.
Baskin was under the impression that the documentary was going to be similar to “Blackfish,” according to an interview published Thursday by Fox News.
“I felt betrayed by them,” Baskin told the outlet. “We worked with the producers for five years. When they came to us they said what they were working on was ‘Blackfish’ for big cats. ‘Blackfish’ showed just a horrible, horrible life for dolphins and whales being kept in these concrete pools. After it, the whole industry of whale shows and stealing whales and putting them in aquariums came to a halt. To do the same for big cats, we thought [a documentary] exposing how the cub petting is so cruel would be great.” (RELATED: Carole Baskin Taunts Joe Exotic After Trump Pardon Falls Through)
“We were all on board,” she continued. “In fact, they said the name of their show was going to be ‘Stolen Wildlife’ and they said Joe would be in it but in five minutes of it.”‘
Baskin accused Netflix of lying about what the documentary was going to end up looking like.
“They totally lied to us about what their end product was going to be,” she said. “The whole premise behind [the show] was that it was a feud. For a feud, you have to have two people that are feuding. I’ve never had a conversation with Joe. I’ve never even spoken to him.”
Honestly, I can see why Baskin would be so angry about everything. People really ran with the idea that Baskin had killed her husband after “Tiger King” debuted. I’d be frustrated too if I cooperated with the filmmakers for five years just for that to happen.
How could they not show more than five minutes of footage from Joe Exotic though? He makes great television.