Carole Baskin calls ad asking for information about late husband’s disappearance a ‘publicity stunt’

Carole Baskin is calling out her first husband Don Lewis’ family for suggesting she was involved with his disappearance in a commercial which aired during her debut episode of Dancing With The Stars on Monday.

The Tiger King personality, 59, called the ad-spot a ‘huge publicity stunt’ while appearing on Entertainment Tonight with partner Pasha Pashkov following the premiere.

The TV attack on Carole didn’t seem to dampen her spirit, as the Netflix star held her head high while making her way to dance rehearsal on Tuesday. 

Pride: Carole Baskin held her head high while going to Dancing With The Stars practice after her first husband’s family took out an ad suggesting she could have killed him that aired during her debut performance Monday night

Stunt: The Tiger King personality, 59, called the ad-spot a 'huge publicity stunt' while appearing on Entertainment Tonight with partner Pasha Pashkov following the premiere

Stunt: The Tiger King personality, 59, called the ad-spot a ‘huge publicity stunt’ while appearing on Entertainment Tonight with partner Pasha Pashkov following the premiere

Though Carole admitted she hasn’t actually seen the 50 second plea big-cat activist said she’s ‘not at all surprised’ by her former in-laws, calling the whole thing ‘a huge publicity stunt on their part.’ 

‘…What more could they possibly do than that?’ she went on about the spot, which only aired on TV in Florida but is available online.

The animal activist/CEO of Big Cat Rescue went on to tell trolls to ‘find something to do that’s worthwhile with your life.’

‘Spending time worrying about what I’m doing is probably not a really good use of your time,’ she said. 

‘I’m not worried about what people say because even when they’re saying things that [are] negative, it’s keeping the conversation out there [about cats] in the public eye. As long as I can keep that conversation out there, I can keep the cats in the spotlight and that’s my goal.’ 

Not shocked: Carole admitted she hasn't actually seen the 50 second plea big-cat activist said she's 'not at all surprised' by her former in-laws

Not shocked: Carole admitted she hasn’t actually seen the 50 second plea big-cat activist said she’s ‘not at all surprised’ by her former in-laws

Try harder: '...What more could they possibly do than that?' she went on about the spot, which only aired on TV in Florida but is available online

Get a life: The animal activist/CEO of Big Cat Rescue went on to tell trolls to 'find something to do that's worthwhile with your life'

Try harder: ‘…What more could they possibly do than that?’ she went on about the spot, which only aired on TV in Florida but is available online

Here me roar! Baskin definitely showed off her animal instincts during the premiere, above

Here me roar! Baskin definitely showed off her animal instincts during the premiere, above

The daughters of Carole Baskin’s first husband tried to trample on the Tiger King star’s DWTS debut last night with an advert offering a $100,000 reward for information about his disappearance. 

Lewis – who started the animal sanctuary which later became Big Cat Rescue Corp. in Tampa, Florida with Baskin – vanished a day before a scheduled trip to Costa Rica in 1997.

In Tiger King, Baskin’s rival Joe Exotic raised suspicions she fed her spouse to tigers after Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a murder-for-hire plot against her.

Adding to the evening’s drama, Carole didn’t fare well in front of the judges, earning a measly 11 out of 30 for her Paso Doble to the iconic 80s track Eye of the Tiger.

Eyes on the purr-ize: 'I'm not worried about what people say because even when they're saying things that [are] negative, it's keeping the conversation out there [about cats] in the public eye,' she said while with partner Pasha Pashkov

Eyes on the purr-ize: ‘I’m not worried about what people say because even when they’re saying things that [are] negative, it’s keeping the conversation out there [about cats] in the public eye,’ she said while with partner Pasha Pashkov

Not chump change: The daughters of Carole Baskin's first husband tried to trample on the Tiger King star's DWTS debut last night with an advert offering a $100,000 reward for information about his disappearance

Not chump change: The daughters of Carole Baskin’s first husband tried to trample on the Tiger King star’s DWTS debut last night with an advert offering a $100,000 reward for information about his disappearance

Claws out: Adding to the evening's drama, Carole didn't fare well in front of the judges, earning a measly 11 out of 30 for her Paso Doble to the iconic 80s track Eye of the Tiger

Claws out: Adding to the evening’s drama, Carole didn’t fare well in front of the judges, earning a measly 11 out of 30 for her Paso Doble to the iconic 80s track Eye of the Tiger 

But she wasn’t letting the low scores put her down, telling ET she was happy to get the feedback from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough.

‘I feel good about it,’ she said. ‘I always feel like there’s huge room to improve on anything and I feel like if we’ve made it this far in two weeks [of rehearsals], every week that we survive the show, it’s going to just get better and better.’

Still, Carole and partner Pasha weren’t offering too many details about next week’s routine.

The pro dancer told the outlet: ‘Let’s keep it a surprise.’

‘This was a surprise, the whole thing, like nobody knew who was dancing with who, so let’s keep some more secrecy until next week. We have some epic song choices and I just want everybody to tune in and really have a good time and enjoy the ride.’

Next week Dancing With The Stars will air its first elimination. In lieu of its regular Monday slot, the show will air Tuesday at 8pm on ABC. 

Move it or lose it! Next week Dancing With The Stars will air its first elimination. In lieu of its regular Monday slot, the show will air Tuesday at 8pm on ABC

Move it or lose it! Next week Dancing With The Stars will air its first elimination. In lieu of its regular Monday slot, the show will air Tuesday at 8pm on ABC