Carole Baskin refuses to sign her rights to Kate McKinnon's 'Joe Exotic' series

In true Joe Exotic fashion, the behind-the-scenes happenings of Peacock's forthcoming Joe Exotic scripted series seem to be messy.

In this new interview with British newspaper Metro, Carole Baskin revealed that series creators had reached out to her when development first began but were met with resistance.

"The people at Wondery came out to me and said they're going to do a scripted series with Kate McKinnon, and they asked me if I'd sign over my life's rights to it," the controversial animal rights activist said. "I said, no, my life isn’t done yet, when I get done, when I fix this problem, then maybe I’ll sign my life rights over but not until then."

Baskin then added that she hopes McKinnon's series leans more toward the second season of Wondery's Over My Dead Body podcast, eventually given its own Joe Exotic: Tiger King title, than Netflix's Tiger King:

"I don’t know how that added to the dialogue except for the fact that they had to have some reason for there to be a feud between me and Joe Exotic. I have never spoken to Joe, so if you don’t have a real feud what can you do for real balance? There has to be some reason for him to be so obsessed with me. That was the whole purpose of making me out to be this horrible villain."

Netflix premiered the record-breaking documentary series last March, corresponding with the beginning of the U.S. coronavirus lockdown and becoming a pop culture obsession. The official description alone is a doozy:

"Among the eccentrics and cult personalities in the stranger-than-fiction world of big cat owners, few stand out more than Joe Exotic, a mulleted, gun-toting polygamist and country western singer who presides over an Oklahoma roadside zoo. Charismatic but misguided, Joe and an unbelievable cast of characters including drug kingpins, conmen, and cult leaders all share a passion for big cats, and the status and attention their dangerous menageries garner. But things take a dark turn when Carole Baskin, an animal activist and owner of a big cat sanctuary, threatens to put them out of business, stoking a rivalry that eventually leads to Joe’s arrest for a murder-for-hire plot, and reveals a twisted tale where the only thing more dangerous than a big cat is its owner."

Joe Exotic, otherwise known as Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is currently serving a 22-year federal prison sentence for the plot to kill Baskin as well as "multiple violations of wildlife laws" (h/t NBC News). That hasn't stopped him from writing a tell-memoir, though, which is due for release in November through Simon & Schuster.

Joe Exotic was originally received a cross-platform series order from NBCUniversal last August. Last month, however, it was shifted to stream exclusively on Peacock.

McKinnon is set to portray Baskin as well as serve as an executive producer.