Dolly Parton Turned Down The Presidential Medal Of Freedom From Donald Trump TWICE!
Dolly Parton is truly amazing. Not only have her philanthropic efforts led to creating a vaccine for coronavirus, but the Queen of Country has also done plenty of other work to better society. She’s run Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library literacy program since 1995, which has donated more than 100 million children’s books. And just a few years ago in 2016, the Dollywood Foundation donated $1,000 a month to several hundred East Tennessee families who lost their homes during wildfires. She’s an angel in every sense of the word and in her Christmas movie, Dolly Parton’s Christmas On The Square, she was literally one.
So of course being an iconic do-gooder got her attention from important people. Such as former (thank God) President Donald Trump who tried to give her the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice but she turned that bitch down. Now she may be in the running for the medal once more from President Joe Biden, but Dolly doesn’t want to “play politics” by accepting. Counterpoint: Dolly Parton is above politics and everything else and is an ethereal creature of hope who can do no wrong. So take the medal!
While on Today this morning, Dolly spoke with Hoda Kotb about why she turned down the Medal of Freedom from Trump and why she’s not sure if she’d take it from Biden either:
“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 explained, adding that she has since heard from President Joe Biden about the award as well. “Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure.”
“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.”
“I think everyone thinks you might deserve it,” TODAY’s Hoda Kotb reassured her.
.@DollyParton catches up with @hodakotb and shares an exclusive look at her first-ever #SuperBowl ad! pic.twitter.com/Jdcjh6LryM
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 2, 2021
And since Dolly is such an iconic legend, she’s booked and busy. Entertainment Weekly says that Dolly worked on a commercial for the Super Bowl this Sunday. In the ad for website-building service Squarespace, Dolly remixed her classic hit 9 to 5 to be an ode to those who work on their side hustle after working a full-time job. Because something called “sleep” does not exist! The Squarespace remix of 9 to 5 is called 5 to 9 and it’s about working on your passions.
The ad was directed by La La Land director, Damien Chazelle and Dolly talked about how she was excited to work with Squarespace on the remix. She’s also launching a site of her own to promote her new Dolly Fragrance perfume. She told AP:
“A lot of people through the years have wanted to change the lyrics to fit certain things they’re doing. I really thought that was a wonderful thing, especially for Squarespace. They’re so into people, new entrepreneurs working after hours to start their own businesses. 5 to 9 seemed to be a perfect thing when they pitched it.”
Apparently, Dolly has even been asked to play the Super Bowl Halftime Show. But she’s always turned it down since it’s such a big show say she “always kind of chickened out.”
“I know it’s just a big commitment. If you do good, you do great. If you do bad, you do bad in front of all those people. [The ad] seemed like the perfect kind of way to do it.”
So we could’ve had a Dolly Parton Super Bowl EXTRAVAGANZA?! You mean to tell me we all could’ve been graced with the sight of Dolly Parton entering a football field on a flying pair of sparkly boobs? Or emerging from the stage on top of a giant wig? And Dolly kept us from experiencing that?! Okay, maybe Dolly has done one little thing wrong.
Pic: Twitter