My Problem of season 29 of Dancing With the Stars: Why America Should Stop Glorifying Infamy

By Nicholette Marbley 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dancing With The Stars, it is a dancing competition show that showcases pairings of celebrities and professional dancers who try to shimmy their way into the hearts of 3 judges and millions of viewers to win the coveted mirror ball trophy. The show had some changes this year. Tyra Banks has replaced 2 of last year’s judges, and Derek Hough is filling in for Len Goodman as a host due to the travel ban. The show has also added 2 new professional dancers, Brit Stewart and Daniella Karagach, to their 15 person professional dancer roster. Some of the 15 celebrities competing this year are Backstreet Boys member AJ Mclean, Vernon Davis, a former 49ners Superbowl Champion, NBA star Charles Oakley, and the infamous Carole Baskin, the former wife of deceased Don Lewis and a main character of the Netflix documentary, Tiger King. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tiger King, it is a bizarre program centered on strange individuals who participate in big cat breeding and the disappearance of Don Lewis, the owner of Wildlife On Easy Street. There are claims from many individuals, including Joe Exotic, owner of a rival cat rescue, that Carole Baskin murdered her husband and fed him to their tigers. The case was just reopened, and here are my thoughts:

I have seen the documentary, and I watched the first episode of season 29 of Dancing With The Stars, and can honestly say not having a live audience is for the best. Even if she was not found guilty, we should not be rewarding people of her character with fame and glory. She is a terrible human being who basks in her ex-husband’s death and reaps in the benefits every day. She doesn’t feel wrong about any negative press, and it’s a slap in the face to women who kill their abusers and get life in prison or innocent people who are poor and unfortunate and end up in jail for life for a crime they didn’t commit. I will still watch the show, but I refuse to watch any interview or give money to anything she is involved in. This country needs to stop making infamy famous and stand against disgusting money-hungry people with no conscience.