Elle King wants her fans to know that she’s human and sometimes makes mistakes. In response to backlash over her botched Dolly Parton tribute, King had the perfect four-word response, “I love you too.”
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King garnered controversy for being “hammered” while performing at Parton’s tribute. The musician’s voice was slurred, and she struggled to sing several of Parton’s classics. Many concert-goers found King’s behavior to be disrespectful. They called King out on social media creating a backlash against the musician.
King has mostly kept her head down since the controversy. However, she posted on social media breaking her silence on the issue. King wanted to thank the supporters that stood by her, but she also had a message for her critics as well. She didn’t offer them any of the same ill-will that they appeared to offer her.
“To everyone sending me love because I’m human and already talked to Dolly, I love you,” King wrote in the Instagram post. “To everyone who told me to [k*ll] myself, I love you too.”
She also captioned the post with, “Oh no was my human showing.”
Dolly Parton Forgives Elle King
For what it’s worth, Parton has publicly forgiven King. Speaking with Extra, she said that she didn’t hold any hard feelings over King’s performance. Parton explained that King was dealing with her own personal demons, and everyone should move on.
“She’s a great girl, and she’s been going through hard things lately,” Parton said. “She just had a little too much to drink, so let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anyone ever could.”
Additionally, Parton’s sister Stella called critics for having a double standard when it came to King. However, Stella didn’t appreciate King making a mockery of Parton’s songs, taking to social media following the tribute.
“But let me just say this, it wouldn’t be the first time a hillbilly went on the stage of the Opry ‘hammered’ but I guess it’s okay if you’re a male but, Good Lord don’t ever let a girl behave that way, folks,” she wrote. “Double f-cking standard if you ask me. So the Opry is apologizing! LOL.”
“To any lil ego thinking they can learn the lyrics correctly with a half-a–ed listen to one of Dolly’s songs, surprise! You’ll end up looking as silly as that lil girl,” she wrote. “Do your homework people. Memorize the lyrics to ‘Jolene’ or [‘Coat of Many Colors’]. My sister loves words. A brilliant wordsmith,” she added.
It’s unknown if King also smoothed things over with Stella as well.
[Photo by Terry Wyatt/WireImage]
