Following the outrage over Discovery’s Eaten Alive special starring naturalist Paul Rosolie, the network has defended its show. Now, Rosolie is defending himself on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Rosolie never actually got swallowed by an anaconda like he promised, and he told Kimmel “we gave it the best shot we could!”
Us Weekly reports he went on to say that those who are angered that he didn’t deliver “missed the point of the whole show then.” As Discovery explained, the point was to raise awareness about conserving the rainforest in the Amazon.
In a statement, the network said, “Paul created this challenge to get maximum attention for one of the most beautiful and threatened parts of the world, the Amazon Rainforest and its wildlife.”
Rosolie asked for his team to bail him out after an hour into the stunt, when he felt the snake breaking his arm. PETA had a lot to say about the special, and Rosolie has responded, saying they watched “the last 20 minutes of the show, and they’re hinging on that and totally forgetting everything else about the fact that we’re trying to protect these animals.”
Check out some of the Twitter reactions to Eaten Alive here.