Carole Baskin thought she was ‘being kidnapped’ by haters before realising it was fans asking for selfies

Tiger King star also said she is in a ‘state of fight or flight mode all the time’ thanks to abuse after show

Carole Baskin has revealed she mistakenly thought she was being kidnapped in recent days, only to later realise she was being approached by fans asking for selfies.

The Tiger King star has been the subject of widespread online abuse ever since appearing in the hit Netflix documentary last year.

“Being in a state of fight or flight kind of mode all the time is just a part of my life now,” she told Metro.co.uk. “But the other day I was riding my bike home and a black SUV ran me off the road. Suddenly, everybody opens the doors and jumps out of the car and starts running toward me. I’m thinking I’m being kidnapped but they just wanted selfies. That’s how it goes now.”

Tiger King focussed on the ongoing feud between animal rights activist Baskin and tiger trader Joe Exotic, who eventually ended up prison for attempting to hire a hitman to kill her.

One episode revolved around the mystery surrounding Baskin and her second husband Don Lewis, who went missing in 1997.

While Tiger King saw zoo-owner Exotic claim that his rival Baskin was involved in her husband’s death, she has always denied this and is not a suspect or person of interest in the still-open case.

Read more:

• Patsy Palmer ‘does a Piers Morgan’ and storms off Good Morning Britain live on air
• Piers Morgan tries to lecture Gayle King on ‘how to do your job as a journalist’ after call with Meghan and Harry
• ‘I’m crying too’: Fans react to David Tennant choking up over Proclaimers song in Comic Relief
• Netflix secret codes: How to access hidden films

Speaking about the abuse, Baskin said: “In the past year, I’ve seen this mob mentality take over in every aspect, everywhere we’re seeing this really huge uprising of mob mentality.”

She added: “I don’t know what’s causing that other than the fact that we’re all sharing in the same pandemic and we’re all afraid. I believe it’s causing people to do and say certain things, and to join into certain groups or cliques.”

Baskin said that people see her as a “caricature” rather than a “real person”.

Acclaimed documentarian Louis Theroux is set to front a new BBC documentary about Exotic, who featured in Theroux’s 2011 documentary America’s Most Dangerous Pets, and is currently serving time in a Federal prison.

The new documentary, produced with the working title Louis Theroux: The Cult of Joe Exotic, is a feature-length exploration of the trader, and will function as a sequel to Theroux’s original documentary.