Video featured on the Big Cat Rescue website
In the final installment in our three-part blog series, we reveal three reputational mistakes Tiger King’s Carole Baskin makes throughout the docuseries. The first and second posts highlight how Baskin’s on-screen behavior diminishes her credibility and ultimately takes the focus off her organization’s trifold mission of “providing the best home we can for the cats in our care, ending abuse of big cats in captivity and preventing extinction of big cats in the wild.”
Blunder #5 - A failure to set boundaries. If the filmmakers of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness kept digging into Baskin’s personal life, what options did she have to maintain her credibility? Baskin had a choice to participate in the filming and did so with the intention of furthering her organization’s mission to protect big cats.
Baskin is aware of her past and the unsolved missing person case around her late husband Don Lewis. Unfortunately, this piece of Baskin’s life which made national headlines more than 20 years ago is something that she’ll always find herself dodging when agreeing to step into the media spotlight.
For the sake of comparison, Jane Fonda is still asked about the implications of her 1972 trip to North Vietnam that earned her the unwelcome moniker of Hanoi Jane. Although she has vowed not to speak about it anymore, veterans still encounter Fonda about this issue, and she must continue to address actions she has said that she deeply regrets to this day in media interviews.
For this reason, Baskin may not necessarily be the best spokesperson for her organization. She also could have set expectations with the filmmakers letting them know that she’s happy to answer any questions regarding the need to protect big cats.
If the filmmakers reneged on her terms, Baskin could have politely, yet firmly, steered the message back to what’s most important—protecting big cats—leaving Tiger King to carry on without her salacious scenes and unbecoming statements.
Blunder #6 - Falling out of brand ambassador mode. When representing yourself or your organization in the public eye, whether that be at a public event or in front of a camera, it’s critical to stay in brand ambassador mode at all times. The advice we like to impart to clients is to act like you’re on a job interview or spending time with your grandparents or other individuals you highly respect.
Baskin spent far too much time hamming it up for the camera and sharing intimate details of her personal life, including her rebuttal statement, that at the very least comes across as unprofessional, thus detracting from her sanctuary’s mission.
Blunder #7 - Forgoing expert council and feedback. What Baskin lacks most is either expert council or the ability to follow sound advice. We had high hopes that her rebuttal strategy would somehow magically make us reconsider how she was portrayed in Tiger King. Instead, it practically serves as an unexpected and, in parts, an entertaining addendum to the drama cataloged in the docuseries. The photo and further discussion of the meat grinder; details about her sex life with her belated husband; as well as petty details about when and how Lewis’ first wife filed for divorce and so much more demonstrate a glaring lack of sound judgment and also a failure to prioritize the sanctuary's reputation and mission.
When facing a crisis, it is valuable to have a forum to clarify your side of the story to those willing to dig into the deeper details. In this case, some of the details provided by Baskin are not material and display limited strategic guidance that is essential to the crisis recovery process.
Carole Baskin is not only the founder of the Big Cat Rescue but she, her husband Howard and her daughter, Jamie Veronica, serve as the sanctuary’s executive leadership and also its board. Although this is not illegal, it is questionable for a nonprofit of this size to lack accountability to an independent board. In the state of Florida where Big Cat Rescue is headquartered, board members have legal responsibilities and act as an essential check and balance system.
It’s one thing to work with and seek the council of outstanding veterinarians and animal behaviorists and quite another to report to a board that includes experts of this caliber. While Carole, Howard and Jamie Veronica are passionate champions for the welfare of big cats, it appears they do not hold advanced degrees in zoology, animal behavior or veterinary medicine. This kind of insular leadership can lead to the type of poor decision making we witnessed in Tiger King.
Having visited Big Cat Rescue, we must admit that we saw an impressive and well-run operation. Again, we’re public relations experts and know nothing about caring for captive big cats. At the end of the day, as animal lovers, we’re glad that people like Carole, Howard and Jamie Veronica dedicate their lives to making the world a better place for animals, particularly those that may not regularly be seen in the public eye.
While we have never met Baskin nor have been professionally involved with Big Cat Rescue, we hope they can move forward and learn from this experience while continuing to fight to end the tiger cub trade.
For the sake of comparison, Jane Fonda is still asked about the implications of her 1972 trip to North Vietnam that earned her the unwelcome moniker of Hanoi Jane. Although she has vowed not to speak about it anymore, veterans still encounter Fonda about this issue, and she must continue to address actions she has said that she deeply regrets to this day in media interviews.
For this reason, Baskin may not necessarily be the best spokesperson for her organization. She also could have set expectations with the filmmakers letting them know that she’s happy to answer any questions regarding the need to protect big cats.
If the filmmakers reneged on her terms, Baskin could have politely, yet firmly, steered the message back to what’s most important—protecting big cats—leaving Tiger King to carry on without her salacious scenes and unbecoming statements.
Blunder #6 - Falling out of brand ambassador mode. When representing yourself or your organization in the public eye, whether that be at a public event or in front of a camera, it’s critical to stay in brand ambassador mode at all times. The advice we like to impart to clients is to act like you’re on a job interview or spending time with your grandparents or other individuals you highly respect.
Baskin spent far too much time hamming it up for the camera and sharing intimate details of her personal life, including her rebuttal statement, that at the very least comes across as unprofessional, thus detracting from her sanctuary’s mission.
Blunder #7 - Forgoing expert council and feedback. What Baskin lacks most is either expert council or the ability to follow sound advice. We had high hopes that her rebuttal strategy would somehow magically make us reconsider how she was portrayed in Tiger King. Instead, it practically serves as an unexpected and, in parts, an entertaining addendum to the drama cataloged in the docuseries. The photo and further discussion of the meat grinder; details about her sex life with her belated husband; as well as petty details about when and how Lewis’ first wife filed for divorce and so much more demonstrate a glaring lack of sound judgment and also a failure to prioritize the sanctuary's reputation and mission.
When facing a crisis, it is valuable to have a forum to clarify your side of the story to those willing to dig into the deeper details. In this case, some of the details provided by Baskin are not material and display limited strategic guidance that is essential to the crisis recovery process.
Carole Baskin is not only the founder of the Big Cat Rescue but she, her husband Howard and her daughter, Jamie Veronica, serve as the sanctuary’s executive leadership and also its board. Although this is not illegal, it is questionable for a nonprofit of this size to lack accountability to an independent board. In the state of Florida where Big Cat Rescue is headquartered, board members have legal responsibilities and act as an essential check and balance system.
It’s one thing to work with and seek the council of outstanding veterinarians and animal behaviorists and quite another to report to a board that includes experts of this caliber. While Carole, Howard and Jamie Veronica are passionate champions for the welfare of big cats, it appears they do not hold advanced degrees in zoology, animal behavior or veterinary medicine. This kind of insular leadership can lead to the type of poor decision making we witnessed in Tiger King.
Having visited Big Cat Rescue, we must admit that we saw an impressive and well-run operation. Again, we’re public relations experts and know nothing about caring for captive big cats. At the end of the day, as animal lovers, we’re glad that people like Carole, Howard and Jamie Veronica dedicate their lives to making the world a better place for animals, particularly those that may not regularly be seen in the public eye.
While we have never met Baskin nor have been professionally involved with Big Cat Rescue, we hope they can move forward and learn from this experience while continuing to fight to end the tiger cub trade.