Dolly Parton explains once and for all her refusal to talk about politics
Ask someone to name a Dolly Parton song and not only do they have a broad discography to choose from but plenty of hits to choose from. Ask Parton about her politics, however, and that becomes infinitely harder to pin down, which is exactly how she wants to leave it.
Parton has often been asked about her political stances in the past. She faced a fresh wave of queries in 2017 when she reunited with her 9 to 5 crowd Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin at the Emmys when the latter two made jests about the incumbent president. When asked, Parton gave the same answer then that she would give years later. Here’s why.
At the 2017 Emmy Awards, Parton, Tomlin, and Fonda received a standing ovation when they walked onstage arm-in-arm. Things swerved into the politically oriented during Tomlin and Fonda’s jokes directed at the executive branch. Parton did join in – but only to make the kind of self-depracating jokes about herself she’s been known to make with pride in who she is. She has famously been quoted jesting, “It takes a lot of time and money to look this cheap, honey.”
However, a month after those Emmy Awards, people wanted to know that, if Parton had made a political joke, what flavor would it take?
“I don’t do politics,” Parton told PEOPLE. “I’m an entertainer. When I’m out there if all else fails, I just do a boob joke.”
Jump ahead a few years, and her stance has not changed, no matter how direct the questions.
The topic came up again during a recent chat between Parton and ABC’s Nightline. The interviewer directed the topic of conversation to politics, and it was then that Parton explained her ongoing policy to avoid getting into the subject.
“There are always prone to be political. And I had said up front, I am not being political. I don’t do politics,” she explained. “I’m not getting into any of that. Because I have a lot of fans out there and I don’t want to offend anybody.”
“And besides,” she added, “I don’t get into that. And so, if you are deciding you may want to ask me something more serious, don’t. Because I am not going to answer it.”
The reporter then alluded to “a President of the United States who said those things on that bus.”
“I’m not addressing that,” Parton reiterated. “I do not get into that. Of course I have my opinion about everybody and everything, but I learned a long time ago to keep your damn mouth shut if you want to stay in show business. I’m not in politics, I’m an entertainer.”
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