Howard Baskin has released an emotional video where he sharply criticizes the duo behind the Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness. Baskin runs the animal sanctuary Big Cat Rescue with his wife, Carole Baskin, who’s featured prominently in the Netflix seven-episode docu-series. However, the way she and her sanctuary came across is clearly what inspired the clip.
“This is a video for our supporters to explain to you the deception that took place in the making of the Netflix’s Tiger King, and to thank you so much for so many expressions of support,” Baskin began. He went on to talk about the 2013 documentary Blackfish that exposed horrific practices behind-the-scenes at SeaWorld — and led to sweeping reforms. He said that directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin approached him five years ago to make “the Blackfish of big cats in captivity.” However, Baskin argues that they did little but sensationalize the practice, and elevate its subject, Joe Exotic, to star status — something he’s been enjoying.
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Despite doing his research on the two, “we trusted Eric and Rebecca when they told us this documentary would be a meaningful piece of work.” They also mentioned Joe Exotic’s presence but promised that he “wouldn’t be the focus,” and that the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s former husband would be mentioned for context.
“Not only did they lie about that, they never even give us a chance to respond to many of the false claims that ended up in the documentary,” Baskin continued, then he let his feelings be known.
“In a way, the series is about con artists. People like Joe Exotic [and] Doc Antle, who con people out of their money by convincing them that paying them to pet tiger cubs somehow helps conservation,” Baskin said. “In my view, the biggest con artists of them all were Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin. I believe they were devoid of integrity, don’t care about the animals and clearly, clearly do not care about the truth.”
In addition to installing extra security equipment around the sanctuary, Carole Baskin wrote a lengthy piece on the Big Cat Rescue website where she argues many of the same points, as well as points out the differences between sanctuaries like hers and private zoos, like the private zoo previously owned by Joe Exotic, Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park rural Oklahoma. Which, incidentally, has seen a surge of visitors since the debut of the stunningly-popular series.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is currently available to stream on Netflix.
