"Tiger King" star Bhagavan “Doc” Antle and Britney Spears go way back, didn't you know? It was recently discovered that the professional animal trainer and stars of the wildly popular Netflix docu-series, Tiger King: Murder, Madness, and Mayhem, was actually onstage during Britney's iconic performance of her hit song, "I'm A Slave 4 U," at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.
Although the performance is most memorable for the moment in which Britney has a Burmese python draped over her shoulders while she struts around on stage, there was also a live tiger involved, which was handled by Doc himself. The performance begins with a young Brit locked in a cage with the tiger before she breaks out onto the stage, and Doc can be seen in the background controlling the wild animal for the most of the performance.
“She was such a darling, totally just a fanatic person wanting a perfect performance,” Doc said about the then-19-year-old Britney. “We were there for several days rehearsing so that the tigers would be relaxed and happy to be out there and that everything could be smooth and taken care of as best as possible. She was there rehearsing and working—just the hardest working, sweetest young girl, out there making all the pieces click together.”
Scott Gries/ImageDirect/Getty Images
“I have total confidence in that tiger. I knew him since he was a baby,” he continued. “He’s about seven years old right there [and at the] peak of his game. A super macho, aggressive male tiger. That’s the tiger that you go somewhere like that with because he cares less about the fireworks, the gas explosions, the banging music. He’s totally concerned with just holding his own and being cool.”
Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe Getty Images
The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.) founder and Myrtle Beach Safari owner says Britney's always welcome to visit the park, but he realizes that she may not be too keen on it right in the midst of all the drama surrounding the series. “Brit knows who we are and where we are,” he said. “Right now, I’m sure with the Hollywood vibe, she’d be afraid that it’s on fire with all of this crazy salacious, insanity that has been made into Tiger King.”
"Tiger King" Stars Doc Antle & Carole Baskin Have Strange Britney Spears Connections
"Tiger King" star Doc Antle was onstage with Britney Spears during her iconic performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, handling a wild tiger.
Britney Spears lit up the stage for an iconic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2001, dancing alongside some exotic animals and carrying a snake around her neck. As Tiger King continues to blow up as one of the most riveting documentaries of the year, fans of the series noticed that one of the principal characters, Dr. Bhagavan Antle, was actually on stage with the pop star during the performance.
Newly resurfaced photos show Tiger King star Doc Antle in the background as Britney Spears sang her hit single "Slave 4 U" during the exotic-themed performance. The doctor is seen handling a giant tiger as Spears does her thing, getting ready to electrify the crowd.
Another shocking photo has also hit the internet, showing Britney Spears seated in the audience following her performance. Surprisingly enough, she was sitting right next to Carole Baskin, owner of Big Cat Rescue and one of the most important characters in the doc.
Tiger King fans are going insane at the revelation that both Doc Antle and Carole Baskin were somehow involved in the iconic VMAs performance.
In other news related to the series, Joe Exotic has filed a $94 million lawsuit against the feds and one of his ex-husbands, John Finlay, has gotten new teeth since filming his parts for the show.
Bhagavan "Doc" Antle Speaks On "Tiger King" Doc Missteps, Says He’s Single
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle has become an overnight star thanks to the virality of the “Tiger King” documentary.
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle was among the three main figures interviewed for Netflix’s new documentary, Tiger King, that’s quickly shaken up the pop culture world. So many celebs have spoken out about the new documentary, from Cardi B voicing support of Joe Exotic, to 50 Cent confirming he did indeed watch the documentary series.
Last week, we reported on how Joe Exotic is suing the feds, as well as former employees for $94 million. He’s currently incarcerated following a murder-for-hire plot gone awry, among some other charges that were all explained in the series. Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who owns and operates the Myrtle Beach safari, issued a statement after the documentary released distancing himself from it. Carol Baskin and her Big Cat Rescue team released a similar type of statement.
Now, Antle appears on comedian and podcaster Theo Von’s show, where he spoke about some of the faults with the documentary, including his personal representation. He tells Theo Von, first and foremost, he’s a single guy– although the doc made it seem like he has a haram of wives.
Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images
“I’m a single guy…I was married 25 years ago. But I’m a single guy, I got girlfriends. They’ve come and gone over the years. It can’t be unique that I got girlfriends, it’s just they were put on a screen saying this and that,” he states, adding that some of the ladies in the series were “relatives” or “significant others of my staff and stuff helping me out.” He also added, “These aren’t teenagers that are walking around here, granted, some of them have been here for decades.”
One of the other points of contention in the doc, is the fact that the documentary filmmakers alluded to Doc Antle euthanizing cubs that could no longer be played with for profit. As far as any “inappropriateness with tiger cubs” Doc states, “They asked me every question in the world, 99% of them had nothing to do with anything that was going to become Tiger King, they just pick and choose pieces.”
He added, “No tiger babies are ever going to be euthanized or pushed out of the way, they’re incredibly special to us.”
Finally, the documentary ends with stating that Doc Antle’s property was raided in December 2019, which Antle says is simply untrue– they were willingly helping out the police. “We were not raided.” He continues, “We had an inquiry from Virginia magistrate, who wanted to get some DNA from some lion cubs.”
When it comes to Exotic Joe, and where everything went wrong for him, Doc Antle shares his perspective on the matter: “I think that he’s had a lot of difficulties that have come up…besides for Carol, PETA was a thorn in his side.”
He continued, “I think that Joe was too big and imploding in his own way, he was taking on the responsibility of so many animals and I think that that is just a difficulty in itself. There’s a certain point that you have to stop.”
It also sounds like Doc Antle may soon be pursuing the filmmakers of Tiger King legally, as he told Theo Von in response to a question about them: “I’ve been advised not to talk about them, if it gets to litigation,” Doc said.
Have you watched Tiger King? Check out the new podcast episode in full below.
