Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is a big hit for Netflix, and Doc Antle has emerged as one of the show’s most notable stars. Antle is the owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, who has a long list of celebrities who have visited his zoo, including Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Back in January 2019, Beckham posted a video of him visiting the zoo. He was playing catch with a chimpanzee, and he was seen petting a tiger.
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According to Cleveland.com, Beckham’s video got a lot of heat from PETA who is against Antle’s zoo. The organization said in a statement: “These sensitive and much-abused animals belong with their families in nature, not pimped out as props by shameless roadside zoos. “We’re sure that Odell Beckham Jr. had no idea that the sleazy safari park where this young chimpanzee is kept has a lengthy record of violating federal law and uses great apes and big-cat cubs in cheap publicity stunts like this. These encounters are incredibly dangerous, and PETA urges everyone — including Beckham, who certainly doesn’t want another injury — to steer clear of cruel facilities that exploit animals.”
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Antle has denied claims of animal abuse during his time on the show. He even bashed Netflix for the series being “sensationalized” and accused producers of using “paid participants.” Antle went to Instagram to express his disappointment, but the post is now deleted.
“We are very disappointed that our facility was mentioned in the new Netflix series,” his statement read in part. “We can only assume it is because Doc Antle has been such a high profile wildlife personality for so many decades that his association would create more buzz.”
“It is important to understand that this series is not a documentary; it’s sensationalized entertainment with paid participants. Tiger King is the bizarre story of Joe and Carole and their feud. These characters are not representative of experts in the wildlife sector or world class facilities like ours here in Myrtle Beach,” it continued. “Myrtle Beach Safari has been recognized by the state of South Carolina as one of the pre-eminent wildlife facilities in the United States. We’ve also received international accolades for the critical role we provide with our qualified, captive breeding programs and our global conservation efforts of threatened and endangered species.”
All seven episodes of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness can be streamed only on Netflix.
