‘Tiger King’ Cast Tells All on Reunion Special: 7 Revelations

Credit: Netflix

'Tiger King' Cast Tells All on Reunion Special: 7 Revelations

Getting answers. The first seven episodes of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness became a massive success — and left fans with many questions. Luckily, Joel McHale hosted an eighth episode, titled "The Tiger King and I," in which he interviewed seven of the key members of the docuseries about what really happened, how they felt about the series and more. They all also gave any update on Joe Exotic (whose real name is Maldonado-Passage), who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence. He was convicted on 17 charges of animal abuse and two counts of murder for hire, for an alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill zookeeper Carole Baskin. During the reunion special, McHale interviewed Eric Cowie, the head zookeeper at the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, Jeff and Lauren Lowe, the couple who took over the G.W. zoo, former zoo manager John Reinke, former G.W. animal keeper Kelci "Saff" Saffery, Joe's former campaign manager Josh Dial, Joe's ex John Finlay and Joe Exotic TV producer Rick Kirkman. Baskin, 58, was not asked to be part of the docuseries but her publicist shared with Us Weekly that even if she was, she would not have participated due to the way she was portrayed in the special. In the series, there were many claims made that Baskin killed her second husband who disappeared in 1997. Authorities even reopened the case after the docuseries hit Netflix, despite Baskin repeatedly denying the claims. “I just feel so angry that people have totally missed the point," the activist told the Tampa Bay Times in her first interview since the series on Thursday, April 10. "And the point is these cubs are being abused and exploited and the public is enabling that.” Her husband, Howard Baskin, added, "There’s almost no way to describe the intensity of the feeling of betrayal." The couple claims they're also getting death threats. “I’ve had to turn my phone off. I can’t tell the real ones from the fake ones because they’re always out of state numbers anyway," she shared, noting that she can't ride her bike anymore because it's unsafe. She also saw a car waiting for her, a man filming and screaming at her. However, she's hopeful for the silver lining: “I really hope what will come of this is that law enforcement will take this seriously. We’ve all been screaming at the top of our lungs for 20 years that this abuse was happening, and no one was listening. Now the abuse is so apparent, I hope it will encourage them to take action on it and inspire Congress to do what they can to end cub petting and private possession of big cats." Scroll through the gallery below for the highlights from the reunion episode:

Credit: Netflix

'Tiger King' Cast Tells All on Reunion Special: 7 Revelations

Getting answers. The first seven episodes of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness became a massive success — and left fans with many questions. Luckily, Joel McHale hosted an eighth episode, titled "The Tiger King and I," in which he interviewed seven of the key members of the docuseries about what really happened, how they felt about the series and more. They all also gave any update on Joe Exotic (whose real name is Maldonado-Passage), who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence. He was convicted on 17 charges of animal abuse and two counts of murder for hire, for an alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill zookeeper Carole Baskin. During the reunion special, McHale interviewed Eric Cowie, the head zookeeper at the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, Jeff and Lauren Lowe, the couple who took over the G.W. zoo, former zoo manager John Reinke, former G.W. animal keeper Kelci "Saff" Saffery, Joe's former campaign manager Josh Dial, Joe's ex John Finlay and Joe Exotic TV producer Rick Kirkman. Baskin, 58, was not asked to be part of the docuseries but her publicist shared with Us Weekly that even if she was, she would not have participated due to the way she was portrayed in the special. In the series, there were many claims made that Baskin killed her second husband who disappeared in 1997. Authorities even reopened the case after the docuseries hit Netflix, despite Baskin repeatedly denying the claims. “I just feel so angry that people have totally missed the point," the activist told the Tampa Bay Times in her first interview since the series on Thursday, April 10. "And the point is these cubs are being abused and exploited and the public is enabling that.” Her husband, Howard Baskin, added, "There’s almost no way to describe the intensity of the feeling of betrayal." The couple claims they're also getting death threats. “I’ve had to turn my phone off. I can’t tell the real ones from the fake ones because they’re always out of state numbers anyway," she shared, noting that she can't ride her bike anymore because it's unsafe. She also saw a car waiting for her, a man filming and screaming at her. However, she's hopeful for the silver lining: “I really hope what will come of this is that law enforcement will take this seriously. We’ve all been screaming at the top of our lungs for 20 years that this abuse was happening, and no one was listening. Now the abuse is so apparent, I hope it will encourage them to take action on it and inspire Congress to do what they can to end cub petting and private possession of big cats." Scroll through the gallery below for the highlights from the reunion episode:

Credit: Netflix

Eric Cowie

Eric, who still works at the G.W. zoo, hasn't seen the series because he's been too busy working. He also shared that he doesn't care about Joe Exotic or Jeff Lowe. In fact, he told Jeff, "I am here for the cats." During his interview, he revealed he thinks Joe will die in prison and deserves to be there. "Good riddance," he said. Eric also revealed he's never done meth and is sick of people thinking he did just because of his looks.

Credit: Netflix

Jeff and Lauren Lowe

The Lowes watched the series one time and found it "painful" to see. He said he started wearing leather jackets because they don't declaw the big cats and his arms were getting ripped up. As for Joe, they claim he was not set up and he's "his own worst enemy." The couple agree that he's now in a cage "where he belongs." They're not sure if they'd do more episodes after how much backlash there's been against them. Oh — and they still have the nanny and she's "excellent."

Credit: Netflix

John Reinke

The former zoo manager claimed Joe blew up everything on set and he quit the day that he saw Jeff and Dillon Passage get into a fistfight in the driveway. He noted that he has had no contact with Joe, as he's "refrained from contacting him." As for who should play him, Reinke would like to see Matthew McConaughey in the role.

Credit: Netflix

Kelci "Saff" Saffery

The animal keeper, who lost his arm from a big cat bite in the docuseries, revealed he's not upset that the docuseries referred to him as a "she" despite the fact that he identifies as a man. However, others have been very upset about it. Saff has watched the bite video over and over and said they were using it as a "safety video" for those interested in working at the zoo. He was outraged when he found out Joe was killing animals but feels that only the negative about Joe were shown, not the positive. "I've seen him give the jacket off his back," he said. While Saff believes "justice was served," he hopes Joe doesn't die in prison.

If a movie happens, Saff thinks Johnny Tsunami should play him.

Credit: Netflix

Josh Dial

Joe's former campaign manager thought the series was a "wonderful production" and was fair to all parties. During the docuseries, he witnessed Joe's husband Travis Maldanado's death after he accidentally shot himself. Josh explained that Travis was not suicidal and he could see in his eyes that it was an accident. Afterward, he wished he could get counseling and medication but didn't have any help. He hopes to get the help he needs and get back to campaigning when he's "stable."

Josh isn't surprised that Joe went to prison, not only because of his crimes but because he was gay in Oklahoma. He also said he thinks Carole and Joe's zoos are the same and both are all about money. He also noted that he's gotten a lot of hate and claims that he does drugs, which he does not.

Credit: Netflix

John Finlay

Joe's ex and his fiancée binged the series in seven hours when it came out to be "prepared." He's not happy with the way it came out because he was "portrayed as a drugged-out hillbilly," which he is not. He's clean now and has a 4-year-old daughter.

Credit: Netflix

Rick Kirkman

The producer was asked who was more disturbed: Bill O'Reilly or Joe Exotic. He thought it was an interesting question and said that Joe is "more evil" while Bill is "more of just an a--hole." Rick said that he sold out his integrity by not going to authorities when he witnessed things that were not OK against animals. He also told a disturbing story about Joe killing an old horse after telling its owner he'd give it a good life. "I regret ever meeting Joe Exotic," he told McHale, noting that he was "sucked into" his world. He still has nightmares about living there.

"I don't think Joe Exotic will leave prison alive. I don't think he'll be able to stand it," Rick said, adding that if Joe gets out, he doesn't think he'll "last long." The former Inside Edition producer also revealed Joe is "terrified of big cats."

Now, Rick hopes that there is only one good thing that comes from the docuseries — people talking about how to free more animals.