YouTubers Trick ‘Tiger King’s Carole Baskin Into Giving First Public Interview by Posing as Jimmy Fallon
Carole Baskin got pranked by YouTubers into giving her first public interview following the release and success of the Netflix docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.
Over the weekend, the Big Cat Rescue CEO sat down for what she thought was a video chat with The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon. However, she was actually being asked questions by YouTuber pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners.
The two pulled it off by pretending they worked for a production company named Invisible Objects that books celebrity guests for late-night talk shows and tricked her by putting together voice clips of Fallon asking questions about cats over the years. (They also explained to Baskin that she would not be able to see him.)
Before you get too excited, Baskin doesn't talk about Tiger King at all nor the mysterious disappearance (and alleged murder!) of her first husband Don Lewis. Instead, the 58-year-old discusses her flower crown and how the COVID-19, a.k.a. the novel coronavirus, pandemic is affecting her business.
"Well, unfortunately, due to the loss of tourism revenue, we had to let go about half of our staff," she 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."
You can watch Baskin's full interview, below.
Baskin later spoke out about being pranked, telling Us Weekly that she wasn't upset.
"I was suspicious as we were doing it because the questions appeared taped," she told the outlet. "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."