“Tiger King” is Rumored to Return, but One Key Cast Member is Not Joining

Tiger King

UPDATE: Netflix has announced that it is releasing an eighth episode of the show, to be called “The Tiger King and I,” on April 12. According to the streaming platform on Twitter, it will feature “brand new interviews with John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff, Erik Cowie, Rick Kirkman, and Jeff and Lauren Lowe.” The announcement was accompanied by a video featuring actor Joel McHale (dressed in a cowboy hat and a leopard print shawl), who said that the new episode will focus on their lives after the release of Tiger King.

The month-long quarantine gave us time to catch up on our Netflix shows. One of the series we’re watching now is the true crime docu-series Tiger King. In the seven-part series, we see the crazy feud between zookeepers in the US that ended in an arrest and a slew of conspiracies.

There’s a rumor going around that Netflix is doing another episode of the show. Netflix has not confirmed it but according to Jeff Lowe, the former business partner of Joe Exotic and the current owner of his G.W. Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, a bonus episode is going to be released this week. This was echoed by Exotic’s husband Dillon Passage, who described it as a “live-based episode” and a “reunion.”

However, one key figure in the original Tiger King won’t appear in the bonus episode. It’s Carole Baskin, the conservationist owner of Big Cat Rescue and the nemesis of Joe. One of her central storylines is the mysterious disappearance of her husband and the conspiracy that she is behind it.

A representative for Carole told Entertainment Weekly, “We have not been approached about a new episode and would not participate if asked.”

The representative did not mention why they wouldn’t participate but Carole slammed her portrayal, calling it “salacious and sensational.”

In a blog post, Carole said, “When the directors of the Netflix documentary Tiger King came to us five years ago they said they wanted to make the big cat version of Blackfish (the documentary that exposed abuse at SeaWorld) that would expose the misery caused by the rampant breeding of big cat cubs for cub petting exploitation and the awful life the cats lead in roadside zoos and back yards if they survive.”

She added, “[Tiger King] has a segment devoted to suggesting, with lies and innuendos from people who are not credible, that I had a role in the disappearance of my husband Don 21 years ago. The series presents this without any regard for the truth or in most cases even giving me an opportunity before publication to rebut the absurd claims. They did not care about truth. The unsavory lies are better for getting viewers.”

Tiger King became a hit when it was available for streaming on Netflix. Rotten Tomatoes gave the series a 93%, saying, “a bizarre true crime story you have to see to believe, Tiger King is a messy and captivating portrait of obsession gone terribly wrong.”

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