Carole Baskin had no idea that Tiger King would be such a hit for Netflix. She also didn't really know the full purpose of the documentary. In her eyes, it was more about rescuing big cats than profiling Joe Exotic, otherwise known as Joseph Maldonado-Passage. Joe and Carole were rivals, and Joe is actually in jail due the fact that he plotted to have Carole killed. However, Carole wound up looking like a bad guy, too.
The CEO of Big Cat Rescue has been accused by many fans of the documentary of killing her then husband and feeding him to her tigers. Based on the way the documentary was edited, many might have easily clung to the idea. The accusations made people angry over her involvement in this year's cast of Dancing With the Stars.
During the debut of this season, even past family members ran an ad against her. They're looking for more information on the disappearance of her then husband years ago. The timing of the ad made Carole even more of a target.
This week on the show, Carole got real over the stress that this newfound attention has brought to her and her family. While Tiger King may have been a fun view for many, it came close to ruining her life.
Carole's first dancing performance was quickly torn down by Twitter. The number she chose was fun — and pretty stereotypical. Wearing her signature tiger prints and flower crown, Carole danced to "Eye of the Tiger" with her partner Pasha Pashkov. The paltry performance put her on the bottom of the scoreboard.
But for someone who's known more for animal rescue than dance, she did OK. However, the criticism she's faced both at the beginning of the summer due to Tiger King and for her performance last week led Carole to get emotional during this week's episode. According to Carole herself, she usually doesn't let anyone see her cry.
"Does it really bother me to be on the bottom of the leader board? In everything that I've ever done practically, I always start out at the very bottom," she said. She admitted then that she normally faces losses and negativity privately. As a person, she usually tries to stay strong in public.
"All of the negative media attention that came out of Tiger King was extremely difficult because of the fact that my family was struggling so much with it, to the point where my daughter doesn't read hardly any of the news anymore," she admitted. "I've seen what the media can do to you. And I hate that I try even harder to be strong in their presence. I keep it inside and wait until everybody's gone before I can break down," she said to her partner.
"I hope that Dancing With the Stars helps make that good for my daughter, that she can at least be able to tell her friends, 'This is who my mom is,'" she continued. For many viewers, it was a reminder that Carole is a real person — not just a character. And at one point, her life was in danger.
Carole's previous husband was named Don Lewis. While living in Tampa, Florida, Don disappeared on August 18, 1997. He left behind $5 million in assets, which makes his story even more high-profile. From the outside, many can see why Carole was a suspect. However, there was no evidence that connected her with his disappearance.
While Carole has admitted that her marriage to Don came with some difficulty, it's important to remember that he was part of Carole's life for many years. The two started dating even though they were both married to other people. In the '80s, Carole helped Don buy and sell real estate. They ended up getting married 10 years after they first got involved.
It doesn't seem likely that Carole was after Don's money — otherwise, she may have insisted on marriage sooner. Even today, Carole isn't taking home a lot of money for her work as CEO. Her salary has been revealed as being a little over $55,000. Her current husband, Howard, who also works with her, actually makes slightly more.
Carole has said that right before his disappearance, Don had started to have issues with his memory. In the time since, she's thought about all the things that could have happened to him. Back when he disappeared, she had no problem working with detectives. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Hillsborough County Detective Christopher Fox took over the case while it was still being investigated in 2007.
"I would sum up by saying that the disappearance of Don Lewis appears suspicious and that no one who might have benefited from his disappearance, including his wife, has been or has not been determined to be responsible," the detective reportedly wrote in an email. Since the documentary first aired, Don's case has been reopened due to the amount of interest in trying to figure out what happened.
Meanwhile, Carole only seemed to participate in the docuseries to help bring attention to saving the big cats. "I just feel so angry that people have totally missed the point,” she told the Tampa Bay Times. "And the point is these cubs are being abused and exploited and the public is enabling that."
"Carole talked about her personal life, her childhood, abuse from her first and second husband, the disappearance of her ex, Don Lewis. She certainly wasn't coerced," producer Eric Goode said to the Los Angeles Times. However, Carole said she was led to believe that her backstory wouldn't serve as such a prominent plotline. She really did think the series would be more about the rescue aspect of her organization.
While many people loved the character of Joe Exotic, it's important to realize that he was actually the criminal in the documentary. But Carole took a lot of the blame. While it was puzzling to see her listed as part of the Dancing With the Stars cast, it's possible she just wanted to do anything she could to generate better press. It's very tough to live life when so many people have pegged you as a murderer.
Having Carole share her vulnerable side is just a reminder that she's gone through a lot this year. She's been investigated in the past, and law officials can't find a reason as to why she'd still be a suspect in the case. While Carole might not win Dancing With the Stars, at least she's gotten the platform to showcase who she truly is.
