Hey, all you cool cats and kittens, Carole Baskin is ready to show you the truth about her animal advocacy work.
In a new two-part docuseries for Discovery+ titled Carole Baskin's Cage Fight, which premieres Saturday, Nov. 13, viewers will go behind the scenes of the Big Cat Rescue founder's quest to take down animal exploiters. According to Baskin, unlike Netflix, the streaming service behind the headline-making Tiger King series, Discovery+ was "was willing to cover what we really do."
"I had thought for years, if people could see the kind of life we live going after these animal abusers," she continued, "and how dangerous it is and all of the perils that we're put in by trying to save these animals, that people would really get behind saving big cats."
As to Baskin's thoughts on Tiger King (a.k.a. the show that catapulted her into global fame)? It's safe to say she's not a fan.
The Florida-based conservationist is currently suing the streamer and Royal Goode Productions, the production company behind Tiger King, to block any interviews or footage of her from appearing in the upcoming sequel. As she claimed in the lawsuit, she and her husband Howard were led to believe that Tiger King would be a one-and-done documentary.
(In court documents obtained by People, Netflix and RPG said Baskin had "no claim at all," as she allegedly signed prior releases that allow her image to be used in future projects.)
The Netflix series, which was nominated for six Emmy awards, explored not only Baskin's rescue work but also the mysterious disappearance of her first husband, Don Lewis, in 1997 and her long-time feud with the now-incarcerated Joseph "Joe Exotic" Maldonado-Passage.
So why risk signing onto another docuseries? "The producers of Tiger King...they were the only ones who have dealt with us in such a wretched manner," she explained. "We've just never been treated that way before so, you know, I'm not going to let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch."
And whether you're a fan of hers or not, Baskin hopes everyone tunes in for Cage Fight. "They're going to be shocked at the level of abuse and exploitation that is going on behind closed gates," she shared, "that has been hidden to the public and the media for decades."
Discovery+'s Carole Baskin-led series premieres mere days before Tiger King 2's Nov. 17 debut. Yet, Baskin isn't calling for her fans to boycott the Netflix sequel. In fact, Baskin told E! News that she will be watching the follow-up piece in its entirety.
"I have to tune in because there were so many lies that were told about me so effectively in Tiger King," she noted, "that I know I'm going to be called to defend myself again on Tiger King 2. So I have to know what was said."
For Baskin's animal advocacy work, check out Cage Fight when it drops Nov. 13 on Discovery+.