‘Tiger King’s’ Carole Baskin Tricked Into Interview With Fake Jimmy Fallon Producers

By Jordan Moreau

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Carole Baskin, one of the zookeepers who skyrocketed to fame from Netflix’s “Tiger King,” hasn’t done many interviews because she was unhappy with how the docuseries presented her. However, she was recently tricked into giving an interview over Zoom by YouTubers posing as “Tonight Show” producers.

Josh Pieters and Archie Manners, who have more than 1.3 million subscribers on their YouTube channel, reached out to Baskin, pretending to be producers booking interviews for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Due to the coronavirus crisis, almost every late-night host has turned to virtual broadcasts to keep their shows going. Making the most of the unusual circumstances, Pieters and Manners managed to talk Baskin into giving her first interview post-“Tiger King” over Zoom.

The video shows emails between the YouTubers and Baskin, who agreed to only talk about her animals and not what happened in “Tiger King.” The two pranksters saved audio clips from Fallon in past interviews and played them to sound like a real conversation was going on between him and Baskin. To top it off, they pretended to talk to off-camera crew members and explained that Baskin wouldn’t be able to see Fallon on video.

The fake interview went off without a hitch, and Baskin discussed how she’s caring for the zoo’s big cats while in quarantine and urged people to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act.

Unlike Baskin, other “Tiger King” stars have spoken about the hit show and their newfound fame. Last month, John Finlay spoke to Variety about what the series didn’t portray accurately.

Watch the full video by Pieters and Manners below.