Cardi B slams Carole Baskin over alleged use of big cat pimp in 'WAP': 'Girl, you killed your goddamn husband'
Cardi B has shot back at 'Tiger King' star Carole Baskin after the latter took issue with the use of big cats in the 'WAP' music video. Baskin spoke out against it earlier this week, saying it was likely that a "big cat pimp" had acquired the animals featured in the video. However, Cardi fired back at the big cat rights activist during an interview with i-D.
"I'm not going to engage with Carole Baskin on that," she said. "Like, that's just ridiculous you know? Oh, Lord. Like, girl, you killed your goddamn husband." The 'Bodak Yellow' hitmaker was referring to some claims made in the 'Tiger King' documentary about the mysterious disappearance of Baskin's second husband. However, Baskin has faced no charges in connection with the 1997 disappearance.
The rather bizarre Cardi B versus Carole Baskin feud started when the Big Cat Rescue CEO told Billboard that the rapper's use of big cats as props for her music video could be detrimental to them, especially since it could "glamorize" the idea of having them as pets. "My guess is that most people won't even see the Photoshopped cats in the scenes because the rest of it is so lurid," Baskin wrote in a statement to Billboard. "I was happy to see that it does appear to all be Photoshopped. It didn't look like the cats were really in the rooms with the singers. In fact, probably most of the rooms were Photoshopped in via green screen."
"That being said, you have to pose a wildcat in front of a green screen to get that image and that doesn't happen in the wild," she said, pointing out the scenes with a cheetah and a tiger in 'WAP'. "It can't happen in sanctuaries like ours where cats have plenty of room to avoid a green screen (or would shred it if offered access and could die from ingesting it)," Baskin continued. "That tells me they probably dealt with one of the big cat pimps, who makes a living from beating, shocking and starving cats to make them stand on cue in front of a green screen in a studio. That's never good for the cat."
"The worst part is that it glamorizes the idea of rich people having tigers as pets," she explained. "That makes every ignorant follower want to imitate by doing the same. After tigers are too old for pay to play sessions by people like Joe Exotic, Bhagavan Antle, Marc McCarthy, Mario Tabraue, and others, they become a liability instead of an asset."
Baskin added, "While I think most are destroyed behind closed gates at that point, some end up being given away to people who want to have a tiger to show off. That never works out and the cats either die or end up dumped in sanctuaries or, worse yet, breeding mills. Either way, it's always abusive to the cat." Cardi, in the past, has pledged support for Joe Exotic, who is currently serving 22 years in prison for the attempted murder of Baskin.