Dolly Parton refused to pick political sides for decades: ‘I’m not in politics, I’m an entertainer’
Dolly Parton spent decades singing about love, heartbreak, faith and working "9 to 5," but there was one arena the country music legend repeatedly resisted entering: partisan politics.
"I am not political, and I refuse to get caught up in political things," Parton told USA Today in a 2020 interview.
Parton, who died Tuesday at 80, maintained that position through the presidential elections, pointed questions about President Donald Trump, offers of the nation's highest civilian honor and controversies involving some of her fellow entertainers.
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"I don't like to get involved in politics, because first of all, I have as many Republican fans as I do Democrats," Parton told USA Today. "I don't want to offend anybody, I have a right to myself."
"Like God gave us free will, America gave us free speech, but you've got to be responsible for anything you say and do," she added.
Two years earlier, Parton was repeatedly pressed about Trump during an interview with ABC's David Wright, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
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"I have a lot of fans out there, and I don’t want to offend anybody," Parton said.
When Wright attempted to draw a parallel between Trump and the sexually abusive boss in Parton's 1980 film "9 to 5," she refused to bite.
"I’m not addressing that," Parton said. "I learned a long time ago, keep your damn mouth shut if you want to stay in show business. … I’m not in politics, I’m an entertainer."
When Wright pointed out that Parton was also a role model, she responded: "Yes I am. That’s why I don’t talk about people."
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Parton's determination to avoid partisan politics with one of America's highest honors.
She revealed in 2021 that the Trump administration had twice offered her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Parton said she declined the first offer because her husband, Carl Dean, was ill and the second because she would not travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the BBC.
By then, the Biden administration had also approached her about the award. "Now I feel like if I take it, it'll be doing politics, so I'm not so sure," Parton told NBC's "Today."
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Her aversion to political camps did not mean she kept quiet about everything she believed.
"I know whatever I say, people are going to listen, and they’re going to make more of it than maybe what I meant. So I have to be careful," Parton told People in 2021. "Of course I have my opinion, but I’m not an opinionated person as a rule. You’re allowed your own beliefs and your own faith, but you don’t have to use it like a weapon when it could be a tool."
Parton's political neutrality was something she could joke about.
"My daddy was a Republican, my mama was a Democrat, and I’m a hypocrite!" Parton famously quipped, pronouncing 'hypocrite' as 'hypo-crat' in her iconic Tennessee drawl.
Parton's philosophy was tested again when she recorded a duet with Kid Rock for her 2023 album, "Rockstar."
Parton defended working with the conservative musician after she was questioned about the collaboration, telling The Hollywood Reporter that she had recorded the song before a controversy involving Kid Rock but would likely have worked with him anyway, according to Rolling Stone.
"Hey, just because I love you don’t mean I don’t love Kid Rock. Just because I love Kid Rock don’t mean I don’t love you," Parton said. "I don’t condemn or criticize. I just accept and love."
Parton said she still would "probably" have recorded the duet because she considered Kid Rock talented and believed accepting someone did not require agreeing with everything they did.
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"I think that’s terrible," Parton said, according to Rolling Stone. "We all make mistakes. We don’t all get caught at it."
Parton tied that belief to her Christian faith, arguing that people deserved forgiveness and second chances.
"I ask God every day to let Him shine through me. He’s given me that gift to be able to talk to them, and I’m very careful with it. And people don’t really come to see me be me — they come to see me be them, the parts of me they can relate to," she told People in 2021.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Parton clarified that she had not endorsed Hillary Clinton after comments she made about the Democratic nominee were interpreted as an endorsement, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Asked later about the race between Clinton and Trump, Parton jokingly called the campaign "the greatest show on television," and described both candidates as "nuts."
Even running for president herself wasn't entertained by the iconic entertainer for a moment.
"No. I don’t think anybody could actually do a great job at that," Parton told Metro in 2023, according to People. "I think we’ve had enough ‘boobs’ in the White House."
Parton said she preferred trying to make a difference through music and the way she treated others.
"I’m not smart enough to be in politics, or maybe I’m too smart," she said. "Either way, I’m not qualified for that type of a job. But I’m pretty qualified to do what I do, which is to point people in the right direction, to write about it in songs or speak about things."
Parton died after a "brief battle with cancer," according to her representatives. At her request, a small, private service will be held for her immediate family, with the family asking for donations to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library rather than flowers.