One of the biggest mysteries to come out of Tiger King was the plaguing question of what happened to Carole Baskin’s husband. In 1997, Don Lewis seemingly vanished and over the years, Baskin has been suspected by her objectors of being involved in his disappearance. She has long maintained her innocence but when Tiger King took over 2020 thanks to Netflix, Baskin was declared a murderer by the court of public opinion.
There were hundreds of thousands of social media posts about Baskin’s alleged guilt and Facebook groups were formed—some calling for her to be attacked. In Tiger King 2, the new docuseries suggested that Lewis is alive.
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In an interview with Billy Bush, Baskin was asked about her thoughts on the rumors.
“I was absolutely shocked to see that they produced a letter from Homeland Security stating that Don Lewis is alive and well in Costa Rica,” she said. Lewis was declared legally dead in 2002. “I always thought he had crashed a plane out over the Gulf because that’s where everything had pointed to, so I am still trying to process what I saw in that report from Homeland Security.”
Baskin’s nemesis, Joe Exotic, has been pleading with authorities to release him from prison because he has been diagnosed with cancer. When asked if she believes he should be released, Baskin made it clear that she believed he should stay incarcerated. Joe Exotic stood accused of trying to orchestrate Baskin’s murder.
“Anyone who has cancer, I would wish them a speedy recovery. But Joe is exactly where he belongs. The world is not safe with him on the streets.”
Watch her interview below.