On Monday, Dancing With the Stars bowed its new season with Tyra Banks at its helm, but all eyes were on Carole Baskin for her controversial performance and the ad that aired during a commercial break in local Florida markets.
The big cats champion danced a Paso Doble to “Eye of the Tiger” with Pasha Pashkov; while some fans on social media ate it up—including Lady Gaga—others slammed her low-scoring dance.
But what really got everyone’s attention was a commercial airing the allegations against the Tiger King star in the 1997 disappearance of her second husband Don Lewis. As viewers of the Netflix hit will recall, star Joe Exotic claimed she killed him, a charge she denies.
The commercial featured his daughters, Gale, Lynda and Donna, along with his former assistant, Anne McQueen, and the family attorney.
Baskin told ET: “I have not seen the ad. I am not at all surprised. It's just been a huge publicity stunt on their part so what more could they possibly do than that?”
She added of the hate and trolling she gets on social media: “Spending time worrying about what I'm doing is probably not a really good use of your time. I'm not worried about what people say because even when they're saying things that are negative, it's keeping the conversation out there about cats in the public eye. As long as I can keep that conversation out there, I can keep the cats in the spotlight and that's my goal.”