Even though Tiger King's Carole Baskin claimed she would never do an interview, two YouTubers tricked her into doing an interview by posing as Jimmy Fallon. Due to the pandemic, many talk show hosts have been conducting their shows from their homes using Zoom to record their shows and interview celebrities. While it is an efficient way to practice social distancing, people can use the anonymity of the Internet to pretend to be someone they're not. However, YouTube pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners have been tricking celebrities long before the days of quarantine.
Baskin is one of the stars of the hit Netflix documentary Tiger King. Quarantine has brought millions of people to binging quirky characters like Joe Exotic, Baskin, and Doc Antle unearth the dark side of the big cat industry. While at first glance the phenomenon that is Tiger King feels like a mockumentary, the truth is that sex cults, drugs, arson, murder, and attempts at murder are merely a day to day activity for the big wigs in the big cat industry. While most of the subjects have enjoyed the attention it has brought, Baskin hasn't been basking in fame and glory. Baskin was disappointed in how her cat sanctuary was portrayed and the episode dedicated to theorizing whether she killed her husband and fed him to the tigers.
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Pieters and Manners documented the historic interview with Carole Baskin and the moments leading up to it on their YouTube channel. The video kicks off with them, explaining how they were able to trick Baskin into thinking they worked for Fallon. They reached out to Baskin and told her that their production company, Invisible Objects works for Fallon. Even though she and her husband initially rejected the offer to be interviewed, she eventually took the bait after the YouTubers promised they wouldn't ask her questions about Tiger King and would only ask about cats. They then downloaded the audio of Fallon on his previous Late Night episodes talking interview Kat Dennings and talking about the movie Cats. The final step of their master plan involved calling Baskin to finalize the details of the interview.
After a sound test involving Baskin listing off some of her favorite big cats, Manners explained that Baskin wouldn't be able to see Fallon but would hear him. They then played the Late Night intro and began firing away with questions asking about how she's holding up during the quarantine and even asked when the next time anyone would be able to see a cat. Baskin responded to each question, sent over never before seen pictures, and also gave a sampling of her signature "Hey, all you cool cats and kittens!" greeting. They ended up having Fallon ask her to promote her Big Cat Safety Act. Despite one minor slip up, the YouTube pranksters were able to pull it off.
Pieters and Manners may have pulled off the most legendary prank of all times. The amount of work that they put into gathering Fallon audio footage and email threads with Baskin must have taken hours. While it was meant as a harmless prank, the YouTubers should remember that Baskin isn't afraid to get her lawyers involved. Otherwise, it may be a prank they'll never financially recover from.
Next: Netflix's Tiger King: 10 Riveting Documentaries About Animal Welfare Issues To Watch Next
Source: Josh Pieters & Archie Manners / YouTube