Carole Baskin has claimed she’s received death threats since Netflix‘s Tiger King aired last month.
The animal rights activist, who was the target of big cat breeder Joe Exotic’s failed murder-for-hire plot, said she’s had numerous abusive calls from strangers who have somehow discovered her number.
Carole and her husband Howard told the Tampa Bay Times in their first interview since the show aired that the Tiger King producers betrayed them by focusing on Carole and Exotic’s rivalry – not the cruelty in the captive tiger trade, as they claim they were told.
“There’s almost no way to describe the intensity of the feeling of betrayal,” Howard said. Carole, meanwhile, told the publication that she is now too scared to cycle to work alone after the death threats.
Last week, Carole also claimed that a woman who was waiting at the side of a trail in a hammock jumped up when she approached, shouting: “That’s her, that’s her.” She also alleged in a separate incident that a man in a car was filming her and screaming at her.
Carole added that she trusted the makers of the hit Netflix programme because of their history working in animal protection.
Tiger King, which Netflix revealed last week to be its most-watched title for the longest period of time, has caused much discussion among viewers. Some regard the Baskins as exploiters who are no better than the abusers they’ve spent years trying to shut down.
After watching netflix tiger king it shows Carole Baskin @BigCatRescue was as bad as joe exotic. I mean they were both using animals to make money! That bitch is a hipocrite and was just making a tantrum cause someone else was taking money from her! They should both be locked up!
— Sergio Aguilera (@seac12121991) March 24, 2020
Carole Baskin is just as bad as Joe Exotic and Doc Antle IF NOT WORSE!. She makes millions and doesn’t pay herstaff ( they’re all volunteers who work 6 days a week 12 hour shifts)! That & she also fed her husband to the tigers #TigerKing
— Jenny Torres (@TJenny021) March 27, 2020
“I just feel so angry that people have totally missed the point,” she continued to the Tampa Bay Times. “And the point is these cubs are being abused and exploited and the public is enabling that.”
Tiger King co-producer Eric Goode told the Los Angeles Times last month: “Carole talked about her personal life, her childhood, abuse from her first and second husband, the disappearance of her ex, Don Lewis…She certainly wasn’t coerced.”
Carole claims she thought the details she provided were going to be used for background context only.
Exotic was jailed for 22 years in 2019 for conspiring to kill Carole. He was also imprisoned for 17 other animal welfare violations. In Tiger King, Exotic accused Carole of having murdered her husband Don Lewis when he disappeared 21 years ago, claims of which she denies.
Most recently, Exotic’s niece spoke out against her uncle, alleging that he’s far worse in real life than how he’s portrayed on screen.
NME has reached out to Netflix for comment.
