Carole Baskin’s ‘DWTS’ Debut Interrupted by Commercial Made by Family of Her Missing Ex-Husband Don Lewis
Don Lewis’s family pleaded with viewers to come forward with any information about what may have happened to Lewis, including whether Carole Baskin may have been involved.
Carole Baskin's highly-anticipated first appearance on “Dancing With the Stars” Monday night was interrupted with a commercial featuring the family of her missing ex-husband, millionaire Don Lewis, who vanished without a trace 23 years ago.
In the ad, which ran in Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida, Lewis’s family pleads with viewers to come forward with any information about what may have happened to Lewis, including whether Baskin was involved.
“His family deserves answers, they deserve justice,” their attorney John M. Phillips said in the commercial. “Do you know who did this, or if Carole Baskin was involved?”
Lewis’s daughters claim their former stepmother has withheld information since the day their dad went missing. They’re offering a $100,000 reward to find “who murdered” him.
“People are going to be watching, especially in the Tampa market,” Phillips told Inside Edition. “Let’s reach them, let’s let them know that, yeah, we’ve got these shenanigans going on and this dance show. But at the core there’s still a family that’s missing their dad.”
The ads cost them $6,500 total, which Phillips called “well-served.”
Baskin, the owner of "Big Cat Rescue" in Florida, made headlines when she appeared on the massively popular Netflix show "Tiger King," which profiled private zoo operator Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka "Joe Exotic." The show featured an intense feud between the two and fueled speculation that Baskin had something to do with Lewis's vanishing.
Baskin has repeatedly denied any involvement in Lewis's disappearance and has never been named a suspect.
As for Baskin's debut performance to the song “Eye of the Tiger,” she received the lowest scores of the night, with just 11 points out of 30.
RELATED STORIES
Trending on Inside Edition

Alex Murdaugh Sentenced to 27 Years in Plea Deal After Admitting to 22 Financial Crimes
Crime
A Toy Story: How the Hess Truck Became a Holiday Staple and Conjures Up Childhood Nostalgia for Some
Offbeat
Brutal Christmas Murder: Ohio Couple Gets Life for Strangling, Shooting and Slitting Throat of Hairdresser
Crime
Riley Keough Gets $7.5M From Lisa Marie Trust, Pays Priscilla $2.35M to be Sole Trustee of Estate: Settlement
Entertainment
Woman Drives Around Railroad Crossing Gate as Train Slams Into Her Car, Killing Her and Passenger
News