“I called her, and I said, ‘You know, there are many F-words,'” Parton gave her take. “‘Why don’t we use the right one? Forgiveness, friends, forget it.'”
She claimed King “made a mistake” and “feels worse about it than anybody” but is “a talented girl going through some hard times.”
“So, we need to get over that because she’s a great artist and a great person,” Parton said.
The one-song performance
Fans complained about what they thought was a disrespectful and tasteless cover of Parton’s classic song.
King’s performance was caught on video and multiple TikToks emerged of Elle King’s appearance which prompted the Grand Old Opry to issue an apology.
“We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance,” the Opry’s post said.
King’s performance was filled with ramblings and profanities. And it started when she took the stage.
“I’ll tell you one thing more … Hi, my name is Elle King. I’m (expletive) hammered,” she admitted.
“I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this (expletive) town/Don’t tell Dolly ’cause it’s her birthday. I’m not even gonna (expletive) lie … y’all bought tickets for this (expletive), you ain’t getting your money back.”
Dolly says Forgive
Parton previously gave an interview to Extra about King’s performance where she claimed “Elle is really a great artist. She’s a great girl, and she’s been going through hard things lately.”
