Carole Baskin and her husband Howard are suing Netflix to use their video in Tiger King 2 trailer.
The couple claimed they only signed appearance release forms for the first season of the Netflix docu-series, which became a cultural phenomenon in March 2020, in a federal lawsuit filed in a Florida court.
They claimed that the streamer and Royal Goode Productions had broken their contract by using footage of them or Baskin's Big Cat Rescue in the future.
"Understanding that the Appearance Releases limited Royal Goode Productions' use of the footage of the Baskins and Big Cat Rescue to the single, initial documentary motion picture, the Baskins believed that any sequel – however odious – would not include any of their footage," according to court documents obtained by The Independent on Monday (November 1).
The couple is now requesting that Netflix erase any footage of them from Tiger King 2 and have their case heard in court.
Baskin, the founder and CEO of Large Cat Rescue and an animal rights activist featured significantly about prominent cat zoos and the people who run them with Joe Exotic.
Baskin previously stated that co-director Rebecca Chaiklin pitched Tiger King as a "single documentary feature film that would be an exposé of the big cat breeding and cub petting trade akin to the documentary feature film Blackfish" after she felt betrayed by the way she was portrayed in season one.
The show, directed by Chaiklin and Eric Goode, focused on the competition between Baskin and Exotic, with the latter loathing Baskin as a focal point.
Baskin, the founder and CEO of Large Cat Rescue and an animal rights activist featured significantly about prominent cat zoos and the people who run them with Joe Exotic.
Baskin previously stated that co-director Rebecca Chaiklin pitched Tiger King as a "single documentary feature film that would be an exposé of the big cat breeding and cub petting trade akin to the documentary feature film Blackfish" after she felt betrayed by the way she was portrayed in season one.
The show, directed by Chaiklin and Eric Goode, focused on the competition between Baskin and Exotic, with the latter loathing Baskin at the center.
Baskin's complaints about the show's "particularly harsh and unfair" portrayal of the marriage and Big Cat Rescue were echoed in the November lawsuit.
"Perhaps most pernicious is the overarching implication in Tiger King that Carole Baskin was involved in the disappearance of her first husband in 1997," according to the docs.
Baskin was harshly critical of the show's first season after its premiere, describing it as "a reality show dumpster fire" in an interview with Variety.
When the show's producers tried to clarify the air with Baskin, she told them to "lose her number."
Following Netflix's announcement of the sequel, she issued a statement saying, "There is no explanation for such a betrayal and false portrayal."
The Tiger King 2 trailer, released on October 27, hints that "Carole knows something" about Lewis, who was reported deceased in 2002 in his absence.
On November 17, Tiger King 2 will be available on Netflix.
