Carole Baskin Bio | Wiki
Carole Baskin (Full name Carole Stairs Jones, formerly called Carole Murdock) is an American animal rights activist and CEO of a non-profit animal sanctuary called Big Cat Rescue based near Tampa, Florida. She has attracted the attention of local, national, and international media outlets to the plight of big captive cats.
Carole drew public attention after she was featured in the 2020 Netflix true crime documentary series titled Tiger King. This documentary follows her escalating feud with Oklahoma-based private zoo owner Joe Exotic. After the release of the series, Carole received abuse online due to the third episode of the series speculating that she was involved in the disappearance of her second husband Don Lewis.
She refuted these claims in a post on Big Cat Rescue’s website. Her catchphrase, “Hey all you cool cats and kittens!” This catchphrase became a meme as a result of Tiger King. Carole has become famous for her appearance on Dancing with the Stars, featuring her dancing to a cover of the song “Eye of the Tiger”.She appeared in the 2021 Louis Theroux documentary Shooting Joe Exotic alongside her husband.
Carole Baskin Age
She was born on June 6, 1961, in Bexar County, Texas, United States of America. Carole is 61 years old.
Carole Baskin Height
She is a woman of average stature. Carle stands at a height of 5 ft 4 in ( Approx 1.6 m).
Carole Baskin Family
She was born on the Lackland Air Force Base in Bexar County, Texas. Carole expressed an interest in saving cats at the age of nine. However, she decided against pursuing a career in veterinary medicine after she learned that veterinarians euthanize animals. Carole reports having been gang raped at the age of 14 by three men who lived across the street from her house.
She claimed that she received no emotional support from her conservative Christian family. Carole dropped out of high school and left home with a local roller rink employee. Later, she hitchhiked back and forth between Florida and Bangor, Maine, sleeping under parked cars. She then purchased a Datsun truck and slept in the back with her pet cat.
Carole Baskin First Husband
At the age of 17, Carole moved in with her boss at the Tampa department store called Michael Murdock. They married on April 7, 1979. Carole has said that she married Michael only because her parents were disappointed that they had been living together outside of marriage, she never loved him. Carole became pregnant in October 1979. She gave birth to her daughter Jamie Veronica Murdock on July 16, 1980. According to Carole, she threw a potato at Michale in 1981, when she was 19 as he attempted to attack her.
She then ran out of their home barefoot and met her next husband, Don Lewis, on 50th Street in Tampa. Carole and Don engaged in an affair while both were still married. She became one of his many girlfriends and substantially grew his wealth by helping him buy and sell real estate in 1984. The couple divorced their respective spouses and subsequently married in 1991. According to Carole, Don was obsessed with sex and would frequently fly to Costa Rica to have affairs timing the trips for whenever she was menstruating.
Don filed a restraining order against Carole in July 1997, claiming that she had threatened to kill him. However, the restraining order was rejected. According to Carole, Don filed the restraining order because she would haul off some of his “junk” property whenever he visited Costa Rica. Don continued to live with her afterward. He told her multiple times that he wanted a divorce, but Carole did not think he was ever serious about it. Don disappeared in August 1997 and was declared legally dead in 2002. Carole claimed that Don was diagnosed with bipolar disorder months before he vanished.
A dispute ensued between her and the children of Don over his estate, with Carole prevailing as the primary beneficiary. The case of his disappearance is still active as of 2021. During the broadcast of Carole’s appearances in Dancing with the Stars in select Florida television markets, including Tampa in September 2020, Don’s family and their attorney ran a commercial spot asking for anyone with information on Don’s disappearance to come forward and offered a US$100,000 reward.
Carole Baskin Husband
In November 2002, Carole met Howard Baskin at a kick-off party for the newly formed No More Homeless Pets organization. Howard joined Big Cat Rescue soon after as chairman of the advisory board. He then proposed to her in November 2003. The couple married in November 2004. Carole came out as bisexual in October 2020.
Carole Baskin Daughter
She has a daughter called Jamie Veronica Murdock who was born on July 16, 1980. Carole shares her daughter with her first husband Michael Murdock.
Carole Baskin Tiger King
She was featured in the Netflix documentary titled Tiger King in March 2020. While filming the documentary, Carole and her husband Howard were told that the series would be “the big cat version of Blackfish” and would help stop cub abuse. The couple was also told that, while Exotic and the disappearance of Carole’s second husband Don Lewis would be featured in the series, they would not be the focus.
Some of the zookeepers featured in the documentary, including Exotic and Tabraue. The former had previously made a diss track referencing Lewis’ disappearance in 2015 while the latter believe that Carole was responsible for Lewis’ disappearance.
Carole Baskin Song | Meme
Following the release of the Tiger King documentary, Carole was cyberbullied over her speculated involvement in Lewis’ disappearance via Internet memes, including a viral TikTok parody of the Megan Thee Stallion song titled “Savage” referencing Lewis’ disappearance and sung by someone doing an impression of Exotic. In response, Carole posted an article on the Big Cat Rescue refuting the claims made about her in Tiger King.
Carole Baskin Dancing With The Stars
She was cast in season 29 of Dancing with the Stars in 2020. Carole danced the paso doble with partner Pasha Pashkov to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” on the series’ September 14 season premiere. The pair received a score of 11 out of a possible 30 which was the lowest cumulative score of the evening
Carole Baskin And Joe Exotic
She had a long-running feud with the former owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma called Joe Exotic. The feud started in 2009 after Big Cat Rescue volunteers initiated an email protest campaign against shopping malls that hosted Exotic’s traveling cub-petting shows, prompting many malls to cancel the events.
Universal Content Productions announced in November 2019 that they were adapting a Joe Exotic podcast for television, with Kate McKinnon portraying Carole. The podcast was released on March 3, 2022, as Joe v Carole on Peacock. Season 1 Episode 3 alludes to new information of Don Lewis having abused Carole and her minor daughter Jamie years prior to his disappearance.
Carole Baskin Net Worth
She has accumulated an estimated net worth of $2,693,561.
Is Carole Baskin Alive
Yes. Carole is very much alive and healthy. She serves as an animal rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue
Is Carole Baskin’s Husband Alive
Her second husband Don Lewis disappeared in August 1997 and was declared legally dead in 2002. She claimed that Don was diagnosed with bipolar disorder months before he vanished.