South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
More ‘Tiger King’ stories in the works
Have we been lied to through all of this? Deceived at a time when we were most vulnerable? Fed a version of the real story when there was something more exotic?
Joe Exotic, that is, star of “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.”
The seven-part Netflix documentary, about the pistol-packing Oklahoma roadside zookeeper’s runin with Tampa animal rescue activist Carole Baskin, has helped divert the attention of millions of housebound viewers during the current global pandemic. “A jaw-dropping true tale of con artists, polygamy, rivalry and revenge,” as Netflix describes the show, which debuted March 20.
But is there more to the blood feud between Joe – whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage – and Carole Baskin, described in the series as “The Mother Teresa of cats” – of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa? He (spoiler alert No. 1) may have been convicted by a federal jury last April of hiring hit men to kill her – but (spoiler alert No. 2) are there skeletons in Baskin’s closet as well? In particular, the skeleton of her missing Florida husband, Don Lewis?
The Netflix show suggests Baskin – and possibly the well-fed tigers in her refuge – might know a little more about the circumstances of his disappearance than they’re letting on. Which left everyone wondering if there’s more to the story than we’ve been told, too
Even Kim Kardashian West look time away from promoting the new season of her own reality TV show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” to speculate with her 64.5 million followers on Twitter.
“Wow, the amount of text I’ve gotten about ‘Tiger King’ since I tweeted about it all have mentioned their belief Carol[e] killed her husband! What are your thoughts? Do you think Carol[e] killed him?”
The question has been so distracting from the current global pandemic that the Investigation Discovery (ID) network announced on Monday that it was greenlighting a new special, “Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic.”
“Despite her claims of innocence, did [Carole Baskin] orchestrate the disappearance of Don Lewis to seize control of his fortune, consolidate power and lay waste to her foes?” the network said. “No one seems to be talking – except for one man – and that man is the center of ID’s upcoming investigative series.”
That man, presumably they mean, is Joe Exotic – currently (spoiler alert No. 3) serving a 22-year sentence at a federal prison in Texas. Although, there’s no word on whether he’ll participate directly in the special or when it might air.
“Viewers are understandably riveted by Netflix’s ‘Tiger King,’ but the millions of true crime fans around the world were left wanting more,” said Henry Schleiff, Group President ID, Travel Channel, American Heroes Channel and Destination America. “ID is the perfect place to find the inevitable sequel to this drama – featuring a missing husband, a hit man and the illegal business of exotic animals. It’s time to let the cat out of the bag and address the lingering questions that viewers demand be answered.”
More than enough material to distract from the pandemic out the door.