Carol Baskin has condemned Cardi B's new music video 'WAP', not for its semi-nudity or extremely explicit lyrics, but the inclusion of big cats such as leopards and white tigers.
The Tiger King star and owner of Big Cat Rescue said that even though the animals were likely photoshopped in via green screen, it was still cruel to use them in the shoot.
"You have to pose a wildcat in front of a green screen to get that image and that doesn't happen in the wild," Baskin said in a statement to Billboard.
"It can't happen in sanctuaries like ours where cats have plenty of room to avoid a green screen, or would shred it if offered access and could die from ingesting it.
"That tells me they probably dealt with one of the big cat pimps, who makes a living from beating, shocking, and starving cats to make them stand on cue in front of a green screen in a studio.
"That's never good for the cat."
Baskin said that the worst thing about using wild animals on screen in this way was that it would "glamorise the idea of rich people having tigers as pets".
"That makes every ignorant follower want to imitate by doing the same."
Baskin is one of the most vocal critics of disgraced zoo owner Joe Exotic, who was the subject of the viral Netflix documentary Tiger King. She accused him of mistreating his animals, and he went on to be convicted of 17 wildlife charges, including the killings of five tigers.
Cardi B's 'WAP', featuring Megan Thee Stallion, is described on genius.com as having a "pervading feeling of female empowerment and sexual liberation".
The clip was the number one trending video on YouTube on Monday morning (NZT).
