Carole Baskin Reacts to Kate McKinnon’s Portrayal of Her in ‘Joe Exotic’ Series

Carole Baskin has given Kate McKinnon her stamp of approval for Peacock’s upcoming Joe Exotic limited series. After photos surfaced on Oct. 8 showing the Saturday Night Live star in character as the big cat rights activist and Tiger King subject, even Baskin herself had to do a double-take, revealing to TMZ that McKinnon is already nailing her new role.

Reacting to those first-look photos, Baskin told the outlet that she was “stunned” to see McKinnon’s transformation. In the images, McKinnon was shown with long blonde hair, similar to Baskin’s, and wearing jeans, a blue cardigan, and a printed shirt. Baskin said when creating the look, producers “nailed the wardrobe” so much so that Baskin even said she has almost the exact same outfit in her own closet. Baskin joked that McKinnon “must be channeling her inner cat lady” as she takes on the role. Baskin also gave some kudos to actor Kyle MacLachlan, who is taking on the role of her second husband, Howard, though she admitted Howard never wears short-sleeve button-up shirts.

Based off the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic, the upcoming limited series is promised to be “much more personal” than Netflix’s hit docuseries. An official synopsis of the new series reads: “She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy. The results prove dangerous.” McKinnon, who will also serve as executive producer, was cast as Baskin back in March 2020.

While Baskin certainly seems to be much more approving of the limited series than she was Tiger King — she previously blasted the docuseries as “salacious and sensational” and alleged the project she was pitched to participate in was not what ended up on screen — she did admit that she is being kept in the dark about some aspects. She told TMZ that she doesn’t know how her feud with Exotic, who is currently serving a jail sentence for a murder-for-hire plot, will be portrayed. She also expressed hope that the series won’t use real big cats.

In addition to McKinnon and MacLachlan, the show will star John Cameron Mitchell as Joe Exotic, Dean Winters as Jeff Lowe, Nat Wolff as Travis Maldonado, and William Fitchner as Rick Kirkham. It is set to be available exclusively on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming platform. A premiere date has not been announced.