“Tiger King” and Carole Baskin’s bizarre saga just took another surreal turn.
In a bizarre prank only made possible by the coronavirus lockdown, two YouTubers used Zoom to pose as Jimmy Fallon producers and trick Baskin into giving her first interview since the release of the hit Netflix docuseries “Tiger King.”
Claiming to be producers from “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” YouTubers Josh Pieters and Archie Manners reached out to Baskin to make her think she was appearing on the late-night show that is being broadcast from Fallon’s home during the coronavirus safe-at-home order. The pair recently pulled a similar stunt on some British celebrities — like pop star Craig David — using clips from “The Late Late Show With James Corden” that were aired during the COVID-19 lockdown, with Manners pretending to be a producer on the Zoom call.
“There is often a moment where there isn’t a clip that’s suitable,” Pieters told Insider.com. “But that’s luckily where I have Archie on standby who can come in and act as the producer and say, ‘Oh we’ve got a quick change there, Jimmy’s just doing this,’ or ‘Jimmy’s just doing his makeup,’ and then it sort of explains why something sort of went wrong.”
Baskin was chosen by the pair as a wild attempt to get the most unlikely guest they could find, and they said they were surprised when she agreed to the interview. Baskin, an activist fighting against private zoos that sell big cats, has been thrust into the public spotlight by “Tiger King,” which depicts her feud against exotic zoo owner Joe Exotic. Baskin has spoken out against the docuseries, calling it “salacious and sensational,” particularly in regards to its depiction of Exotic’s claim that Baskin killed her second husband who disappeared in 1997.
Watch Baskin’s interview in the clip above.