Hey, all you cool cats and kittens!
This year’s much talked about documentary series, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” introduced us to the world of exotic cats and eccentric characters, starring zookeeper Joe Exotic and followed his fall from grace. While “Tiger King” was a lead up to the conviction under federal murder-for-hire statutes (conservationist Carole Baskin), the lead up itself was full of twists, turns and gripping cliffhangers that had viewers on the edge of their seats. After all, amidst the threatening videos, legal allegations, protests, and targeted harassment campaigns, the show managed to interweave Baskin’s (missing) second husband into the narrative. Heavy focus on Joe Exotic’s deep-rooted hate for Baskin couldn’t take away from one of the biggest mysteries to date – what happened to Carole Baskin’s second husband, Don Lewis?
Since the show, Baskin has become quite a phenomenon herself – with footage of her from “Tiger King” spawned into memes, a relaunch of the investigation into Jack Donald “Don” Lewis’ disappearance as well as propelling her so far forward that she landed a stint on Dancing with the Stars. Now it looks like she plans to further capitalise on the infamy that the show has brought her and, as per Page Six, release both a TV show and a memoir in another curveball that 2020 has continued to throw our way.
Page Six has reported that, in an end-of-year email to her fans, the 59-year-old detailed her new projects.
“I’m in negotiations for a TV show series on the work we do to end big cat abuse and to write my memoirs.”
Of course, she doesn’t forget to use the opportunity to prod at her “Tiger King” costars, titling her email: “Where are the Tiger King stars now?”. While she boasts about her time on Dancing with the Stars, she juxtaposes her freedom with that of Joe Exotic and Doc Ante (the animal trainer and private zoo operator), who are in jail and indicted on two felony counts related to wildlife trafficking, respectively.
There is, of course, no mention of anything related to the accusations that she killed her second husband by putting his body through a meat grinder (which she has vehemently denied), his disappearance back in 1997 nor any update from the police on the open case of his disappearance.
Nevertheless, Baskin has been vocal about her distaste for the way in which she was portrayed in the eight-part true crime miniseries. In an interview with the Guardian, Baskin referred to the wildly popular show as having pitched “a feud between two crazy people”, thus branding her a “Karen” (a pejorative term for women seeming to be entitled or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal). In an attempt to shake off this label, Baskin has actively kept fans up to date with recordings on Youtube, where she reads out her diary entries from as far back as 1961.
“There will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but now everyone has access to my whole life story. My hope is that others will recognise themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.”
Who else can’t wait for more details of her rumoured TV show and memoir?
*Cover image credits: Giphy
