Exotic-cat activist Carole Baskin, one of the subjects of Netflix’s Tiger King, has largely steered clear of the media following the release of the streaming platform’s hit docuseries. First of all, Tiger King himself Joe Exotic is currently in prison in part for attempting to hire a hitman to kill Baskin. Second of all, the show probes Baskin’s alleged potential involvement in the disappearance of her second husband, Don Lewis, for which she has never been charged with a crime. However, the Tonight Show proved too strong a pull, and Baskin’s (extremely relatable) desire to chat with Jimmy Fallon allowed two YouTubers to prank her into a faux interview.
As reported by Variety, tricksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners posed as late night talent bookers and reached out to Baskin to set up a Zoom interview with Fallon, subsequently compiling an audio soundboard of Jimmy’s questions to previous Tonight Show guests, specifically queries about cats. Explaining away the visual absence of Jimmy as just a necessary quirk of filming while in coronavirus quarantine, the pair fooled the big cat zookeeper into believing she was, in fact, speaking to Fallon.
The result? Well, Carole Baskin basically just discusses the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on her volunteer staff, asks viewers to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and reminds people to never pay money to pet a tiger or lion cub. But all you cats and kittens don’t have to take our word for it. You can see the prank for yourself in the video below.