Dolly Parton Shows Class After Elle King’s Tribute Goes Wrong

A few months ago, Dolly Parton broke her silence on Elle King’s drunken performance at the Grand Ole Opry. King, 34, had constantly faced backlash from country fans and beyond for saying she was “f—ing hammered” during her birthday tribute to Parton at the Grand Ole Opry in January.

King admitted her performance was “f—ing bad” while trying to perform one of Parton’s classics, ‘Marry Me.’ She also made a joke about people expecting her to know the lyrics to the song. “I can barely play another person’s song, let me see if I can play one of mine,” King said.

Fans also fished out a separate video where King was heard telling the crowd that they were not getting their money back.

Dolly Parton’s – Forgiveness Speech To Elle King

The following day, the Grand Ole Opry issued an apology on X, saying “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.”

But Dolly Parton showed class and empathy; she urged fans to forgive and forget. “Elle is really a great artist,” Parton told Extra. “She’s a great girl, and she’s been going through a lot of hard things lately.”

While in Dolly Parton’s Pet Gala, Parton also told E! News in an exclusive interview that “Elle King is a doll.” The “9 to 5” singer also highlighted that we all have done something stupid in our lives at some point. Parton further stressed the fact that King made a mistake and we should all move on from it.

“I called her, and I said, ‘You know, there are many F-words. Why don’t we use the right one? Forgiveness, friends, forget it.’” Parton told E! News. “She feels worse about it than anybody. But she’s a talented girl. She’s going through some hard times, and I think she just had a little too much to drink and then that just hit her. So, we need to get over that because she’s a great artist and a great person.”

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The Aftermath Of Elle King’s Drunken Performance

Days after the incident at the Grand Ole Opry, Elle King moved her upcoming performance at Billy Bob’s Texas — a honky-tonk in Fort Worth, Texas to September 21.

The “Ex’s and Oh’s” singer also opened up about refraining from speaking about the incident to take some time “to chill,” labeling the incident “a big deal.” King also went on to explain that she was going through a traumatic phase around the time of the event.

In a recent interview on the Dear Chelsea podcast with comedian Chelsea Handler, King said she had “a really big day dealing with what I was going through — and that I’m still going through — and I suffer from, like, severe PTSD,” she said.

In further discussions, she said, “I was totally, 100% disassociated and I just cut to the dressing room, me on the floor just, like, sobbing, like, ‘What have I done?’ And then the next day it was, like, everywhere. Everywhere.”

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