Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Carole Baskin's Current Husband Claims 'Tiger King' Filmmakers Are 'The Biggest Con Artists Of Them All'
Howard Baskin said in an emotional video that he believes "Tiger King" directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin are bigger con artists than Joe Exotic.
Just days before a Florida sheriff’s department announced they are looking for new leads in the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s second husband, her third and current husband slammed Netflix’s “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” for its portrayal of his wife.
“In a way this series is about con artists, people like Joe Exotic and Doc Antle who con people out of their money by convincing them that paying to pet tiger cubs somehow helps conservation,” Howard Baskin said in a scathing video posted Friday. "In my view, the biggest con artists of them all were Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin.”
Goode and Chaiklin directed “Tiger King,” which has become a monumental hit as coronavirus concerns create a captive audience. Carole, who runs the Florida animal sanctuary Big Cat Rescue, was featured prominently in "Tiger King;" the docuseries' misguided star Exotic is currently in prison for trying to have Carole killed. Like Antle, another controversial character in the big cat world, the Baskins claim they were misled into thinking they were participating in a project about animal conservation.
“I believe they are devoid of integrity, don’t care about the animals, and clearly, clearly, do not care about the truth,” Howard said of the filmmakers. He said he feels their only goal was to make something as delicious as possible “so Netflix would pay them millions for it.”
Howard claimed the filmmakers didn’t represent the disappearance of Jack “Don” Lewis, Carole’s former husband, in a respectful way. Lewis vanished in 1997 but the case has never been classified as a murder investigation, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department patrol sergeant Greg Thomas, who worked homicide and cold cases for the department for years, told Oxygen.com.
Earlier this week, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister tweeted that he's looking for more leads in the case.
The docuseries addressed rumors that Carole allegedly killed Lewis, put him through a meat grinder, and fed him to tigers. Carole has denied having anything to do with Lewis’ disappearance and addressed the allegations in her blog.
Howard denounced many of these details as “vicious rumors” in his video. He also pointed out that it led to a Kim Kardashian West tweet, which pondered Carole’s innocence. Howard invited West to the sanctuary to meet with Carole herself.
While getting emotional, Howard claimed that in the 15 years of living together he and Carole have “never” had an argument or even a “harsh word.”
“I honestly believe that I am the luckiest man in the world. I cannot imagine having a more considerate or caring spouse,” he said. “What I'm not sure anyone can imagine is how difficult it is as a husband to have the woman you love so grossly mistreated by people who we trusted and betrayed us.”
Netflix has not responded to Oxygen.com’s request to speak to the filmmakers behind “Tiger King.”
Editor's note: In his initial interview with Oxygen.com, Greg Thomas of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department stated that Carole Baskin was looked at as a person of interest in her husband Don Lewis' disappearance. Amanda Granit, public relations coordinator for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, has since clarified that Baskin was never officially named a person of interest, nor has anyone else. The case is still classified as a missing persons case.
