Tiger King star Carole Baskin has hit back after being tricked into giving a shout-out to disgraced TV personality Rolf Horris in an online video message.
The big cat enthusiast and conservationist is currently listed on the personalised message site Cameo, where fans can pay to receive a short video message from her.
TikTok user Tom Armstrong revealed in a video posted on Tuesday morning that he’d paid money for a message from Carole (which will have set him back £165.17), in which she not only gives a shout-out to Rolf Harris – who she was seemingly told was Tom’s father – but also mentions his “best friend” Jimmy Savile.
After the clip began doing the rounds on social media, Carole told The Mirror she considered the prank an attempt to “trash her reputation”.
She also insisted that she would not have recorded the message had she been aware of Rolf Harris’ actual identity.
“I am amazed at the lengths (and expense) people will go to in order to trash my reputation,” she told the newspaper. “Of course, I have never heard of Rolf Harris, and would not have done the Cameo had I known.”
She added: “The signature line in my email reads, ‘I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made - Franklin D. Roosevelt’ and I think that tells you all you need to know about the kind of people who abuse me in their efforts to make others hate me.”
However, this isn’t the first time Carole has fallen victim to an internet prank since Tiger King’s debut earlier this year.
Back in May, she was tricked into doing an online interview with who she believed were producers for Jimmy Fallon’s US talk show, but were actually British YouTubers Josh Pieters and Archie Manners.