Naomie Olindo Apologizes for Visiting Zoo Featured in Tiger King

Naomie Olindo has apologized for visiting Myrtle Beach Safari, a wildlife attraction featured in Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, after a photo of her at the park recently resurfaced on Instagram.

The Instagram account BrandsByBravo recently shared a photo of Naomie and her boyfriend, Metul Shah, originally posted on Bhagavan "Doc" Antle's profile on June 17, 2019, that showed the couple posing with a cheetah at Myrtle Beach Safari.

Naomie addressed the photo in a comment to the post on Instagram. “Ugh we are SO embarrassed, believe me. We had no idea the depth of the manipulation and how terrible of a situation this place was. We also made a mistake in that we didn’t do our research before going, and have huge regrets," Naomie wrote. "I love animals and didn’t realize I was doing more harm than good by supporting this place. Really heartbreaking and I feel pretty stupid [to be honest]." 

Antle is one of the exotic animal lovers featured in Tiger King, which mainly focuses on the life and career of G.W. Zoo founder Joseph Maldonado-Passage (better known as Joe Exotic), who was sentenced to 22 years for his role in a murder-for-hire scheme, as well as violating wildlife laws, at the beginning of this year.

The true crime documentary series raises questions about Antle's treatment of animals and employees at his Myrtle Beach Safari. The facility was raided by police in December 2019, which Antle said was related to three juvenile lions they got from another zoo in Virginia that was under investigation, The Sun News reported at the time.

The photos published by BrandsByBravo also featured a couple of pictures of Naomie riding elephants with Metul and Craig Conover when they traveled to Thailand back when they were a couple. Naomie noted in her comment to the Instagram post, "Elephants should never be ridden - something I did not know before. Live and learn.”