‘Tiger King’ star Doc Antle hits out at Netflix for new tell-all docu-series
"They conjure up a story about a small mist that they present as a category five hurricane"
The lead star of Tiger King spin-off The Doc Antle Story has hit out at the show for being “silly, twisted and distorted”.
Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story focuses on “disturbing allegations of sexual abuse, violence and misconduct by big cat zoo owner Bhagavan “Doc” Antle”, according to a Netflix synopsis.
The show, which lands on the streaming platform today (December 1), sees several women testify to abusive behaviour exhibited by the Myrtle Beach Safari owner. Antle has since described them as “silly, twisted and distorted stories of half-truths and many lies about my life from 25-35 years ago”.
In a statement obtained by Metro, Antle said that “Netflix is at it again with their tabloid style fiction based docufantasy…The story is loosely strung together by Netflix producers who are always so factual…not! They conjure up a story about a small mist that they present as a category five hurricane.”
“We here at Myrtle Beach Safari operate the Ritz Carlton of wildlife preserves, one of the finest in the world. We have a fantastic staff, most of whom are family and have lived here for 20-25 plus years,” he insisted.
Doc Antle first became globally recognised as part of the original Tiger King docu-series, which dropped on Netflix just in time for a world in its first lockdown to obsess over. A second series of the show—whose main protagonist Joe Exotic is currently in prison for animal abuse and two counts of the attempted murder-for-hire of Carole Baskin—premiered in November.
The Tiger King phenomenon has been considerable and long-lasting: Variety reported that 64million households had watched the original series in its first month of streaming.
The music industry has been just as enamoured by the zoological drama as everyone else: at the time of Tiger King’s release, rock band The Offspring covered Joe Exotic’s song ‘Here Kitty, Kitty’ while wearing face masks. Several musicians—including rapper Tyga—dressed as Joe Exotic and the many characters surrounding his Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park for Halloween 2020.
Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story is available to stream on Netflix now.