‘It’s all a joke’: Myrtle Beach Safari owner gives take on upcoming ‘Tiger King’ season
He said. She said.
That’s essentially how Myrtle Beach Safari owner Bhagavan “Doc” Antle describes the ultra-popular Netflix docu-series “Tiger King” that is gearing up for its second season.
Labeling the series “entertainment” rather than a “documentary,” Antle has an array of thoughts concerning the show’s continuation. Overall, though, the Socastee resident believes the “joke” that was the first season will follow a similar path.
“All they’re looking for, just like last time, they need some kind of salacious, wild story to tell.,” Antle said a day after Netflix announced the show is returning. ”They have no burden of proof. It’s not a documentary. They just want some great hearsay because the hearsay did so much power last time.”
What could be in the show?
On Saturday, Netflix released a trailer that promotes the continuation of the crazy tales displayed in the first season. It also revealed the release date is Nov. 17.
Antle said he did not participate in the upcoming season, though it appears he will be featured in it as he’s shown in the trailer.
“I know a couple of my ex-wives and a couple of my ex-volunteers have been interviewed and I’m sure they have a lot to say,” Antle said Friday. “Most of these are people from the 80s. That’s the wildest time in life and that’s what they’re grabbing onto.”
Aside from his role, which took a back seat in the first season to Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as “Joe Exotic,” and Carole Baskin, Antle expects plenty of fireworks involving the main characters.
“I believe they have a whole lot more hearsay evidence that Carole killed her husband,” Antle said, referring to Exotic’s claims that Baskin killed her husband and fed him to tigers. “I think they have a whole lot of evidence that is hearsay until it goes through the court system. I guess both of those have to be done by the authorities. I know there’s a lot of information about Joe and how everybody involved was participating in perjury.
“They’re all admitting to perjury. I believe [participants] Allen Glover and Jeff Lowe and several of the others are all admitting to coercion and perjury. They’re saying ‘Yes, I lied under oath and I was coerced by fish and games and by the prosecutors to say X and Y.’”
Antle says there’s been a lot of flip-flopping with information.
“All these guys that in theory were creating the information to get Joe in jail and all the stuff to put together to get Carole to appear to have killed her husband and all of the stuff to say that I had some inappropriate behavior here or there [are sensationalizing},” he said. “Now all of those people are saying ‘Yeah, we lied.’”
Antle himself has had legal issues since the first season aired. He is facing felony charges in Virginia related to illegal wildlife trafficking. He was indicted last October following a months-long investigation by the Virginia Attorney General’s animal law unit, according to a news release from the office.
Antle’s charges include felony counts of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking, along with misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act.
The charges are related to lion cubs transported from a Virginia facility, Wilson’s Wild Animal Park, to Antle’s facility in Myrtle Beach, also known as The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.). The animal cruelty indictments allege he carried or caused the lions to be carried in a “cruel, brutal, or inhumane manner, so as to produce torture or unnecessary suffering.”
Antle’s jury trial is set to begin July 25, 2022 in Fredick Circuit Court, according to Virginia court records.
PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — touted victories against the show’s characters, including the fact Antle is facing charges, as the second season nears, and believes the new season will lead to more action against those it’s opposed for years.
“It’s been a deservedly rotten year for Tiger King’s villains, nearly every one of whom is now in prison, out of business, or facing criminal charges or lawsuits,” a statement provided to The Sun News says. “PETA is glad to have played a role in all the work to end their appalling abuse and neglect of magnificent wild animals and trusts the second season will do more to highlight those who exploit them.”
The Sun News reached out to Tiger King director Rebecca Chaiklin for details about the show but has not heard back.
Antle’s gripes with Tiger King’s production
Since the first season aired, Antle has been vocal about his displeasure in how he was portrayed on the show. In fact, he says, he never signed off on being included the first time around.
“I wasn’t involved with the last one particularly, right?” Antle said. “I never gave any of that final connection to them. I was supposed to give them a written letter saying ‘I approve this footage.’ They never got the letter. So I’ve been back and forth with them since.”
Antle said he particularly took issue with claims that he mistreats women on his property and makes them dress a certain way.
“They just put all that information out there are all these unfortunate girls when it’s my daughters and my granddaughter and girls that have been here for a decade that are somehow leading a sad life when they just want to portray illusions,” he said. “They said ‘Hey, look at how he makes them dress.’ And then they showed them all dancing for Halloween. Of course they dress kind of funny: It’s Halloween. Them dressed up in funny costumes was a show for Halloween. They very carefully didn’t show the crowd, because the crowd came in costume as well.”
The perks of Tiger King for Myrtle Beach Safari
While Antle has gripes and questions the validity of the show, he admits he’s had some gains from being feature on the show.
“What I see happens in Tiger King and it’s real clear: 100 million people took a look. A million people took a look and just decided I was a bad guy and they rooted for me to be in trouble. Another million people thought I hung the moon and think that’s the greatest thing,” he said.
“And ever since the first episode aired they’ve been banging on my door. Tens of thousands of people have come and tried to talk to us. Millions and millions of people have chased us online. I think all of that has had a lot of value because those people are just lovers of wildlife. We’re the Ritz Carlton of wildlife preserves, hands down.”
Antle said he’s curious as to what will be included in the show and believes it will once again be a hit.
“I think it will be another wild ride of crazy, salacious content that I hope people enjoy and have a great time watching,” he said. “They just have to hold it in their minds that, of course, Tiger King is not a documentary. It’s tabloid TV. It’s National Enquirer. You know, ‘Aliens took my baby and left a fox.’”
However, Antle believes that what happens in the show is fun and games for the viewers, but sometimes costly for those portrayed.
“There’s no disclaimer at the beginning or end about any of it because it’s all a joke,” he said. “So as long as you can see it with a joking eye it’s there. And I think unfortunately the insanity of the joking game that Joe played made him go to jail. But I think most of what Joe did was a joke.”
Staff writer David Weissman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
