Carole Baskin Sounds Off on Why Tiger King “Really Missed the Mark”

Tiger King changed Carole Baskin‘s life, and arguably for the better.

The Netflix series, which served as the guilty pleasure we didn’t know we were missing and definitely needed for the early days of quarantine, placed a huge spotlight on the exotic-pet business Baskin is passionate about dismantling, opened the door to once-in-a-lifetime opportunities like a gig on Dancing With the Stars and most importantly, helped Big Cat Rescue stay afloat during a pandemic that might have otherwise forced the sanctuary to shut down.

Granted, there are downsides to Baskin’s newfound fame, she explained in an exclusive conversation on E!’s Daily Pop on Tuesday, Dec. 22. ”The only negative impact has been people that can hide behind an email alias or people who would call me from, like, a burner phone and scream obscenities at me,” the documentary star revealed. “And that went on for three months after the show came out.”

Baskin added, “But fortunately…people see I am not the villain I was painted to be in Tiger King.”