Carole Baskin is CEO of Big Cat Rescue, located in Tampa, Florida. The 60-year-old animal rights activist became a household name after “Tiger King” debuted on Netflix in 2020 and became an overnight sensation due to her public feud with Joe Exotic.
Baskin was married to her first husband, Don Lewis, between 1991-2002, before he mysteriously disappeared. Many fans believe that Baskin had a hand in his disappearance, although nothing has ever been confirmed. She has since been married to her spouse, Howard Baskin, since 2004.
Baskin is set to appear again in “Tiger King 2,” although she has since tried to sue Netflix to prevent them from using unused footage of her in the sequel.
Saying that she was “thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons,” Baskin held a Reddit AMA on Monday, November 15, in order to address the controversy and promote her new docu-series “Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight,” which is said to provide an “unfiltered look at how we expose the cub petting exploiters and roadside zoos we feel as mistreating animals.”
Fans Still Want To Know What Happened To Don Lewis
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User jimmystt6 asked, “What do you think happened to your missing husband?” The question was upvoted by more than 11,600 users.
Baskin replied to the post saying that he loved to fly and was looking to “buy ultralights and experimental planes.”
In her words, she says that “I believe Don crashed a small experimental plane or ultralight into the Gulf for a number of reasons. He wasn’t licensed to fly, yet did all the time. He couldn’t file a flight plan and had to take off from closed airports to evade detection. He had to fly under 200 feet to stay off the radar which means he would typically fly out over the Gulf because the air is smoother there, whereas over land there are up and down drafts that will crash you at the height.”
She added, “Since phone records indicated he was planning to go to Texas, and his van was found at a small private airstrip and we have never found Don or wreckage, I think this was the most likely scenario.”
She then directed fans to read her online diary at SaveTheCats.org for more information.
However, some fans called “bollocks” on her explanation.
“You don’t need a pilot’s license to fly ultralight aircraft, you don’t need to file a flight plan, you don’t need to evade detection, you don’t need to fly under 200 feet,” user SalvadoreParadise replied, with others hopping on to say that she was making it sound like he was involved in a drug-smuggling operation.
Baskin did not reply to these comments.
Carole Baskin Wants Fans To Watch Her New Series
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User echoesreach asked, “Overall how do you feel about Tiger King? One the one hand I imagine it damaged a reputation but on the other it gave you a huge audience to spread your message. Was it worth it?”
Baskin responded to the question with a tongue-in-cheek response, saying, “If everyone were saying the things about you that people are saying here, would you have considered that to have benefitted you in any way? When people watch Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight on discovery+ they will see who I really am and have always been.”
“I wouldn’t know who you were if it wasn’t for Tiger King,” user goochstein replied. “Exposure is a double-edged sword.”
It’s unclear if Baskin will become any more favorable to audiences when her unaired footage appears in “Tiger King 2,” which debuts on Netflix on Wednesday, November 17, 2021. The second season will consist of only five episodes.
Fans can watch the trailer for “Tiger King 2” below.
