Surely by now you know who “that bitch” Carole Baskin is. Portrayed as the husband-murdering arch-nemesis of Joe Exotic in the viral hit doco series Tiger King, she’s less than favourable to most of Netflix’s audience.
In what seems to either be a bid to stay relevant, or producers trying to latch onto early-isolation nostalgia, Carole Baskin has now been announced as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars.
JUST IN: #TigerKing’s @Carole_Baskin joins the cast of @DancingABC season 29! #DancingOnGMA#DWTS pic.twitter.com/HdifTN4YbY
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 2, 2020
The reactions are pretty much what you’d expect: the news is so disturbing and absurd that it’s funny.
The dancer when they find out they are partnered with murderer Carole Baskin on #DWTS pic.twitter.com/RAnnkN4jxp
— Joshua Chenault (@joshuachenault1) September 2, 2020
Carole Baskin when her assigned Dancing with the Stars dancer doesn’t follow her leadpic.twitter.com/g7yJBwbmzF
— María Britto Farías💜 (@MariaBrittoF) September 2, 2020
nev schulman & carole baskin are both on dwts this season? calling it now, he will use google image reverse search to solve the mystery of her missing husband.
— hannah chambers (@hanchambers) September 2, 2020
logged on.
saw carole baskin is gonna be on dancing with the stars.
logged off.
— Matt Bellassai (@MattBellassai) September 2, 2020
Out of all the people in the world they placed Carole Baskin in @DancingABC Get me out of 2020 😭 pic.twitter.com/VQM7pUEKHa
— ❀ (@muntries) September 2, 2020
Here’s the thing though – why aren’t we talking about the fact that Carole Baskin can be accused of murder and still be on Dancing With The Stars at a time where Black people are shot for simply existing?
The racial disparities in the way we give white people benefit of the doubt while simultaneously coming up with every excuse under the sun to justify police brutality against Black people is prevalent in every aspect of society, with Carole Baskin’s casting being the latest one.
Tell me, how is it that a white woman who was accused of murdering her husband can be on a show like Dancing With The Stars, when we have Black boys shot for playing with toy guns?
Carole baskin kills her husband and gets put on a dancing show but we can’t arrest any of the cops who killed breonna Taylor ?? https://t.co/F5m9MJhLGJ
— john (@iam_johnw) September 2, 2020
Or how about the fact that POC are often perceived as lucky if they are cast on TV or get roles in media, yet Carole Baskin is really out here developing a career based on a documentary that says she killed someone.
I’m so tired of society’s obsession with rewarding white mediocrity and celebrating white controversy, while POC have to be the most palatable, angelic figures in order to receive even remotely similar levels of sympathy and redemption.
I want to say “fuck 2020”, but the truth is this issue is not specific to 2020. It’s a direct result of a society that was birthed in white supremacy and to this day uplifts and platforms white people over everyone else no matter their crimes – even when they’re accused of murdering their husband.
Image Sources: Twitter