Infamous wildlife activist Carol Baskin said she's keen on acting as an advisor on Kate McKinnon's upcoming Tiger King TV show. Baskin became a globally recognized personality following the release of Netflix's Tiger King docuseries, which followed the scandals and intrigue behind a group of American exotic animal traders, focused around the eccentric Joe Exotic. Baskin was set up as Exotic's primary antagonist in the show, with questions raised around her treatment of animals, as well as her involvement in the mysterious disappearance and death of her first husband.
As eccentric as any of the other characters on the show, Baskin soon became a target to celebrity impressions, as well as speculation over who might play her in any TV show or movie adaptations of the barely believable story. SNL star McKinnon is one of them, with her limited series based on Baskin and Exotic's rivalry recently finding a home at NBC. While she is more known for comedy, the show's synopsis makes it sound like McKinnon's take on the character will be more dramatic, though the nature of the story does lend itself to humor regardless of the show's overall tone.
Now, Baskin told The Pet Show podcast with Dennis Quaid and Jimmy Jellinek that she has attempted to reach out to McKinnon to become an advisor on the NBC show. In addition to advising McKinnon, Baskin adds her primary motivation is to ensure any big cats used on the show are taken care of properly. She says the worst form of cat abuse is when it's done in an attempt to educate people about animal abuse. You can see her comments on the matter below.
[McKinnon] has not reached out to me and I really hope that she does before she gets too far down the line with it. I’d love to know what her take is on it and what she’s thinking to do and see if there was any way we could advise her. We reached out to her through the media — because I don’t have any way of contacting Kate McKinnon — but we had posted publicly that we really hope that her or anybody that does any kind of follow-up programming doesn’t end up doing what Cardi B did and hiring people that are exploiting and abusing cats. It’s like the worst thing you can do is abuse cats to show other people that you shouldn’t abuse cats.
Baskin's reference to Cardi B is related to the music video for her recent hit song "WAP" with Megan Thee Stallion, which features big cats. Baskin publicly criticized the artists for using real-life big cats in the video, claiming that it encourages members of the public to own exotic animals. Those comments and Baskin's offer to help out McKinnon's show are typical of the eccentric activist, who isn't shy to share her opinion when it comes to big cats.
But while it may seem that Baskin is helpful with her offer, she also clearly has an ulterior motive. Given that she took umbrage at SNL cast member Chloe Fineman's impression of her during the past season, she is likely attempting to get on set to ensure McKinnon's portrayal of her is flattering. That is unlikely to be the case, given the synopsis for McKinnon's show specifically mentions her possible involvement in the death of her husband.
And while Baskin may well be able to ensure that any big cats used on set are kept safe, the truth is there are professionals employed by the movie and TV industry whose full-time job it is to ensure on-set animals are not abused. As a network series, one assumes the Tiger King adaptation would make use of those professionals, rather than relying on the very subject of their show for those services.
Source: The Pet Show