'Tiger King': Joe Exotic's Rival Carole Baskin Weighs in on His Early Release Chances

Carole Baskin responds to Joe Exotic's possible light sentencing, saying that the former big cat owner should give out the names of others involved in his operation in order to deserve a lesser sentence. TMZ catches up with the activist and long time rival of Exotic outside the steps of Capitol Hill where she told a cameraman that she believes Exotic doesn't deserve an early release based on the behavior he's shown in the past. "I believe he belongs behind bars and I think if there's anything he could do to lighten his sentence, it should be to put the rest of the people that were conspiring with him behind bars as well. Let's see whether or not he does that," she said at the time.

They also questioned if she feared what would happen to her upon his freedom from prison, she admitted that she's not necessarily worried about Exotic and more so afraid of the people he worked with. "I think they caught the dumbest one of them and that the people who are even more dangerous are still out there on the streets," she shared. Exotic was convicted in 2019 on 21 various counts –– two of which were for hiring hit men to take out Baskin. The other 19 charges were for wildlife-related crimes.

Baskin was on the steps of Capitol Hill because she was lobbying to get a previous bill she worked on back on the floor to be considered. "I'm working on a Big Cat Public Safety Act. We got a two-thirds majority vote last December and we didn't make it through the Senate so I'm here trying to get it back onto the floor with the house and the senate," she told the outlet. "I think this is something everybody can agree on. It has bipartisan support and it's something that protects big cats from abuse and it protects our first responders from dealing with all of the cats and ending up turning loose like they are in Texas. It's a no-nonsense bill that I think everybody can get behind."