'Tiger King' Fans Stunned After Photos Surface of Carole Baskin With Britney Spears at 2002 VMAs

Allison Schonter

03/30/2020 11:04 am EDT

As if the tale behind Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness couldn't get any more bizarre, social media has been left shocked after discovering that Carole Baskin once attended the VMAs alongside Britney Spears. In resurfaced photos from the 2002 event, Baskin, who runs Big Cat Rescue in Citrus Park, Florida and was the subject of the murder-for-hire plot that landed Joe Exotic in jail, was spotted sitting next to Spears. In the photos, the woman in question is seen wearing none other than a leopard-print ensemble, though some social media users have cast doubt on it truly being Baskin.

Making the twist even more shocking is the fact that just a year prior, the documentary's other star, Doc Antle, took to stage at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards for Spear's now iconic "I'm a Slave 4 U" performance. The performance had been accompanied by a number of animals, including a tiger. In the docuseries, Antle had mentioned that he had provided his services to a number of music videos and performances.

Keep scrolling to see how social media is reacting to the bizarre new twist in the already bizarre tale.

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"That is Carole throw your sugar daddy in a meat grinder and feed him to the tigers Baskin," tweeted one person, referencing the disappearance of Baskins' second husband and the lingering theory that she killed him and then fed his body to her many big cats.

"That's not Carole," proposed somebody else.

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"HOLY CATS AND KITTENS," reacted one.

"That is NOT Carole lol," responded another person.

"That's the year she had her husband declared legally dead," pointed out somebody else.

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"I think it's Carole but where is her flower crown????" asked one.

"Incredible detective work. Truly," praised another person.

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"Britney always keeps a can of sardine oil in her purse," joked another, referencing Baskins' comment in the Netflix docuseries that one of the only ways to get a tiger to eat a person is with sardine oil.

"THIS INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM," applauded somebody else.

"That's not Carole," countered another person. "And that's not even the same year Britney did the snake/lion performance. This pic was taken in 2002."

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"WTF!" reacted one viewer of the series. "JUST FINISH [Tiger King] dying... Literally dead."

"And she's wearing her signature print y'all," added another person.

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"Yeah, that's definitely not Carole," commented somebody else.

"Brit's got some big cat connections," joked another person.

"I've never seen this picture before omg," tweeted one.

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"Omg can you confirm please [Britney Spears]," requested somebody else, though Spears has yet to comment.

'How?!?!?! Crazy," wrote another person.

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