The pair convinced the Big Cat Rescue owner that she would be talking to the Tonight Show host by using pre-recorded sound of Fallon and telling Baskin that she wouldn’t be able to see the host due to his new “at-home” format during the pandemic.
In the interview, Baskin revealed that her facility had to let half its staff go due to loss of revenue from the coronavirus lockdown. “Thankfully, all of our animal care is done by volunteers, so the animals are still getting their daily care,” she said. “But it means all of us are having to work double time to make sure all of that happens.”
Despite being fooled, Baskin doesn’t appear to have any hard feelings about the incident. “I was suspicious as we were doing it because the questions appeared taped. But had no idea it would turn out to be such a fun prank,” she said in statement to CNN. “It gave us a very welcome good laugh. I appreciate their cleverness and that they created their video in a way that I don’t feel was in any way mean spirited.”
You can watch the explanation from Pieters and Manners about how they pulled off the prank below.
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