When Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's music video for "WAP" was released, Carole Baskin, an animal rights activist and Tiger King star, slammed the rapper for using tigers and leopards in the music video, saying that it was "damaging" for the big cats.
When Cardi B was asked about her thoughts on Carole Baskin's comments, she shrugged it off as "ridiculous", saying, "I am not going to engage with Carole Baskin on that. Like, that is just ridiculous, you know? Oh, Lord."
She then brought up the theory that Carole Baskin had murdered her second husband Don Lewis. It has been a popular theory that the Tiger Skin star had killed Lewis, who went missing in 1997 and was declared dead in 2002. Carole Baskins denied having any involvement in her husband's death.
Cardi B said, "Like, girl, you killed your goddamn husband."
Now, Carole Baskins has slammed back at Cardi B, claiming that she is merely deflecting the conversation on animal rights. She told Mirror Online, "When most people are called out for their involvement in animal cruelty, they know there is no justification that will persuade others, so they have to deflect the conversation on to something else."
Carole Baskins had stated that though the big cats appeared to be green-screened and not in the room with the singers, it is not natural to pose a wildcat in front of a green screen. She claims that it doesn't happen in the wild nor in sanctuaries. She voiced out her fear that the music video will glamorize the idea of wealthy people having tigers as pets.
She believes some people will not be able to recognize the cats are photoshopped in because of how naturally edited the scenes are.
She went on to wonder if the filmmakers had worked with "one of the big cat pimps" and would beat, starve, and torture the cats to make them stand on cue in front of a green studio in the studio. Though safety precautions were taken to ensure the animals were kept away from the singers, she stresses that the filming process for the cats could have been abusive.
She also voices out that most people who film with cats either dump them in sanctuaries or breeding mills. Some wild cats die.
Cardi B has not responded to Carole Baskin's response.
Carole Baskin is the CEO of Big Cat Rescue and rose to fame after appearing in the Netflix docuseries "Tiger King: Murder, Madness, and Mayhem". She is currently facing a lawsuit from the family of her second husband, who went missing and was proclaimed dead. It has been clarified that the lawsuit is not for damages, but for equity.
Cardi B, on the other hand, released her music video for "WAP", which featured Megan Thee Stallion, on August 7. The song as an instant success, with critics praising the song for its sex-positive message. The music video broke the YouTube record the biggest 24-hour debut for an all-female collaboration. The song debuted at number one in the United States, earning her fourth chart-topper in the country, making her the female rapper with the most number-one singles and the first female rapper to achieve Hot 100 number-one singles in two different decades.
