Carole Baskin Responds After Being Tricked Into Interview With YouTubers Pretending To Be Jimmy Fallon

Carole Baskin seems to be taking a recent prank in stride.

The Big Cat Rescue CEO and subject of the Netflix documentary series Tiger King was recently tricked into taking part in her first video interview since the doc's release by two YouTubers who used chopped up audio clips to pretend to be Jimmy Fallon.

British content creators Josh Pieters and Archie Manners recently released a new video revealing how they managed to get in contact with Baskin -- who has been outspoken in her disapproval of her portrayal in Tiger King -- and posed as bookers for The Tonight Show.

Baskin initially refused, but eventually relented when the pair agreed that "Fallon" would only ask about her organization and big cats in general, and not about the various allegations and insinuations made by the documentary.

The pair used the remote taping format of the Tonight Show: Home Edition to explain why Baskin would only be hearing Fallon, instead of seeing him in the interview, and then used spliced-together audio from different Tonight Show clips to ask her about how her zoo has been amid the coronavirus outbreak.

While the prank itself could have been much meaner, the duo ended up asking Baskin legitimate questions -- using Fallon's voice -- and gave her a platform to talk about the Big Cat Safety Act -- a law she's been championing to end the abuse of lions, tigers and other big cats by private owners -- and she revealed how severely the pandemic has impacted Big Cat Rescue.

"Unfortunately, due to the loss of tourism revenue, we had to let go of about half of our staff. Thankfully, all of our animal care is done by volunteers, so our animals are still getting their daily care," Baskin said during the fake interview, before later admitting, "After COVID-19, I just don't know if we're ever going to be able to do tours again."

It seems that, despite being tricked by the pair, Baskin doesn't harbor and ill will toward Pieters and Manners.

A rep for Big Cat Rescue released a statement to ET on Baskin's behalf on Sunday, sharing, "I was suspicious as we were doing it because the questions appeared taped. But had no idea it would turn out to be such a fun prank. It gave us a very welcome good laugh."

"I appreciate their cleverness and that they created their video in a way that I don't feel was in any way mean spirited," Baskin's statement added.

Check out the video below for more on the Big Cat Rescue CEO and her feud with the Tiger King filmmakers.

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