Dolly Parton finally addresses Elle King’s drunken ‘tribute’ for her 78 birthday

Dolly Parton isn’t one to hold grudges, and she wants her fans to follow her lead with Elle King’s drunken birthday tribute for her.

While addressing the infamous incident during an interview with Extra published Friday, the Queen of Country music took the high road, even urging fans and music industry professionals to forgive and forget the whole debacle.

Not only that, but the Jolene hitmaker seized the opportunity to extend her sympathies and well wishes to King, even praising her fellow country artist.

“Elle really is a great artist,” Parton told the outlet. “She’s a great girl, and she’s been going through a lot of hard things lately,” she sympathised with King.

Last month, the 34-year-old singer came under fire for “ruining” Dolly Parton’s 78th birthday tribute as she appeared on stage drunk, slurring her words, cussing out the audience, and not even remembering the lyrics to Parton’s songs.

Also read: Dolly Parton’s sister defends Elle King for ‘disrespectful’ tribute show

But Parton brushed off the incident, saying, “[King] just had too much to drink, so let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on ‘cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”

Following the fiasco, King cancelled a string of her performances throughout January and February for undisclosed reasons.

Also read: Elle King cancels concert last minute after drunken Dolly Parton tribute