Skip to Content

When Tiger King debuted on Netflix back in March, no one anticipated that it would become the top pop cultural phenomenon of 2020.

In fact, if we told you Americans would still be wearing masks and obsessing over Joe Exotic in September, you might have had a hard time deciding which claim is more difficult to believe.

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

The doc series about polygamous big cat enthusiasts is enjoying a resurgence in popularity at the moment thanks to Carole Baskin’s appearances on Dancing With the Stars.

Unfortunately for Carole, all that attention has served to dredge up some old scandals that she would probably prefer to forget about.

As you probably remember — who could forget? — Baskin has been accused of killing her husband, Don Lewis, and disposing of his body by feeding it to one of the tigers at her zoo.

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

The chief proponent of that theory is Mr. Exotic himself, and it’s kind of hard to take anything he says seriously, especially since the guy is currently serving a 19-year prison sentence on murder for hire charges.

But that’s the thing about wild conspiracy theories — just because nutjobs believe in them, that doesn’t mean they’re not true.

Sane people who have been following the situation also believe Baskin may have played a role in her husband’s disappearance.

Photo via Netflix

Among them are Lewis’ family, who took out an ad during Baskin’s first DWTS appearance offering a reward for information about the missing man.

Naturally, Joe is loving all of this shade being thrown at his number one foe, and we suppose it was only a matter of time before he jumped in and started bashing Baskin himself.

Exotic is the subject of an upcoming Discovery ID special, and TMZ has obtained a portion of one of the prison interviews producers conducted for the project.

Photo via netflix

"All I can say is, don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house," Joe says of Carole.

"A dear friend of ours in Tampa, Florida is feeling the repercussions of the way she’s lived the last 20 years of her life," he continues.

"I’m glad that Don’s family is gonna finally maybe get some answers."

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

From there, Exotic suggests that he’s just one of the many people who have been brought down by Baskin’s ongoing campaign to conceal the truth.

"This is a travesty," he says.

"If this can happen to me, how many other people have been tried. All of their cases need to be re-opened and re-looked at."

Carole Baskin In Tiger King
(Netflix)

For obvious reasons, Baskin has not responded publicly to this latest round of allegations.

But she’s likely realizing that her decision to compete on DWTS has led to a renewed interest in her husband’s disappearance.

Even if she wins, we doubt that the Mirrored Disco Ball is worth all of this grief.