Big cat enthusiast Carole Baskin has been laying low since the release of Netflix’s wild docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, save for a statement on Big Cat Rescue’s website that slammed the show as being full of “lies and innuendos”.
On top of that, following rival Joe Exotic’s claim that the leopard-loving Baskin was responsible for murdering missing ex-husband Don Lewis, putting his body through a meat grinder and feeding him to her tigers, the 59-year-old has been relentlessly bombarded with threats and thus has largely avoided interviews (note that Baskin has never been charged in relation to her husband’s disappearance).
Knowing that chances of convincing Baskin to partake in an interview were slim, YouTube pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners posed as talent bookers for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and set up a meeting between Baskin and who she believed to be host Jimmy Fallon.
Using a soundboard composed of bites of Fallon’s voice from previous Tonight Show episodes – particularly questions regarding cats – the pair managed to trick Baskin into thinking she was chatting with the popular host.
“You’ll only be able to hear, but [Jimmy Fallon will] obviously be able to see you,” Manners explained to Baskin ahead of the “interview” rolling.
Discussing the impact of COVID-19 on her Big Cat Rescue, Baskin revealed her business, like many around the world, had been affected.
“Well, unfortunately, due to the loss of tourism revenue, we had to let go about half of our staff,” Baskin said. “Thankfully, all of our animal care is done by volunteers so the animals are still getting their daily care, but it means all of us are having to work double-time to make sure that all of that happens.”
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The Fallon soundboard then commented, “You look like you’re really handling this whole quarantine well.”
“Well, we have to,” Baskin explained. “We have so many cats depending on us. We don’t really have a choice in the situation.”
After the video began going viral, when asked Baskin was asked for her comment on the prank, she shrugged off the joke, saying she had already been “suspicious” of the interview from the get-go, but added that it was a “fun prank”.
“I was suspicious as we were doing it because the questions appeared taped,” she shared to E! News. “But had no idea it would turn out to be such a fun prank. It gave us a very welcome good laugh. I appreciate their cleverness and that they created their video in a way that I don’t feel was in any way mean spirited.”
Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder…
Watch: Carole Baskin gets pranked by YouTubers
