Dolly Parton turned down an offer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice during the Donald Trump administration. https://t.co/RtB2ipii5h
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) February 2, 2021
… “I couldn’t accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn’t travel because of the COVID,” she said. Parton also explained that she had since heard from President Joe Biden about potentially receiving the award, but fears it would be misconstrued as a political statement if she were to accept now after previously declining.
“Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” she said. “But I don’t work for those awards. It’d be nice but I’m not sure that I even deserve it. But it’s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.”
Last fall, former President Barack Obama took some good-natured heat from comedian Stephen Colbert about not giving Parton the award, which he admitted was a mistake, confessing he assumed she already had received one. Obama then quipped he’d reach out to his former vice president, Joe Biden, about rectifying the error…
Back in the olden days, Miss Manners had a column explaining the correct way to turn down an invitation to a state dinner from a different dishonest GOP president, along the lines of: We regret that we will be unable to attend, because Tuesday is when our bowling league meets.
Respite Open Thread: Dolly Parton, BodhisattvaPost + Comments (93)