Cool cat Carole 'JOE CAN'T HURT ME ANYMORE'

The Tiger King star fought for America's big cats for 25 years, but spent the last three fighting for her own justice. Now she's had the purr-fect closure

- Hayley Barnett

Carole Baskin feels safer than she has in decades. The American animal rights activist shot to fame as the antagonist in Netflix’s gripping 2020 documentary series Tiger King.

The show’s hero, Joe Exotic, claimed she’d got away with murdering her ex-husband and feeding him to the tigers in her sanctuary, and insisted she was now trying to destroy him and his rival tiger zoo. For their part, through ominous music and focusing on her flamboyant and eccentric quirks, the producers painted her as a strange, crazy cat lady who indeed may have done it.

Throughout, Carole protested her innocence and today Joe Exotic is serving a 21-year prison sentence for hiring a hitman to murder her, and recently headlines around the world claimed her ex-husband Don Lewis has been found alive and well living in Costa Rica.

To her fans, it looked to be complete vindication. But a new twist in the tale emerged when the Florida Sheriff’s Office released a statement saying they were yet to receive the Homeland Security document supporting the claim. Don’s family is now accusing Carole of forging the document herself. Homeland Security is yet to respond to either claim.