Carole Baskin denied ‘Tiger King 2’ restraining order: Will this affect her net worth?
TV series continue to pop up year after year that viewers delve into with almost obsessive dedication. In the 90s, it was Friends & Seinfeld. In the 00s it was 24 & The Office. The 10s brought us Breaking Bad & Game of Thrones. But as the 20s began, we were hit with a pandemic that caused us all to delve deep into Netflix’s catalog for the next obsession. The result was Tiger King.
Released on March 20th, 2020, in the early months of the pandemic, Tiger King was an instant success, viewed by just over thirty-four million people in the first ten days. It was the most successful release for Netflix to that point, ending at being viewed by a whopping sixty-four million views, number seven of all-time by the streaming giant. Yet, new developments on the second season may spell disaster for one of the regulars.
What will a season two restraining order denial do to Carole Baskin’s net worth?
Tiger King
The series explores the profoundly interconnected community of big cat conservationists & collectors in America and the private zoos & animal sanctuaries they have set up for these animals’ care and public display. The series’ primary subject is “Tiger King” Joe Exotic, the eccentric owner of the GW Zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. It follows his bitter years-long feud with Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida.
The series later records the events leading up to Exotic’s conviction under federal murder-for-hire statutes when it comes to light that he paid a hitman to murder Baskin; his convictions also included violations of the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act and resulted in a 22-year federal prison sentence.
Carole Baskin’s net worth
Baskin is a big cat rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary near Tampa, Florida. A lifelong lover of cats interested in saving them from a young age, she has garnered attention to the plight of captive big cats to local media outlets and many more national & international programs.
Following the release of the series, Baskin received abuse online due to the third episode of the series featuring the conspiracy theory that she was involved in the disappearance of Don Lewis, her second husband.
Baskin refuted these claims in a post on the Big Cat Rescue Website. Her catchphrase “Hey all you cool cats and kittens!” also became a meme from Tiger King. Her net worth is believed to be just over $2 million after selling off the Joe Exotic’s property for $140,000.
Lawsuit for season two
It isn’t a surprise that Baskin would be unwilling to cooperate with season two of the show as she shared her displeasure with season one back in January.
Baskin shared, “I felt betrayed by them (Netflix). They totally lied to us about what their end product was going to be. The whole premise behind it was that it was a feud. For a feud, you have to have two people who are feuding. I’ve never had a conversation with Joe. I’ve never even spoken to him.”
On Monday, Baskin and her husband filed a complaint accusing Netflix of using unauthorized footage of them for their second season. It only took a few hours for the judge to dismiss the case against Netflix and series directors Rebecca Chaiklin & Eric Goode of Royal Good Productions.
“While the Court understands the Baskins’ frustration, it does not appear that inclusion of Defendants’ footage of the Baskins will cause any immediate harm that cannot be compensated with monetary damages,” said Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on Monday.
While this lawsuit may impact the immediate growth of Carole Baskin’s net worth, the wording by Judge Hernandez leaves the door open for compensation in the form of monetary damages to grow her net worth exponentially if she chooses to seek them.
