DOLLY Parton has defended Elle King after she performed drunk at the singer’s birthday celebration.
The Grand Ole Opry hosted Opry Goes Dolly, Dolly’s 78th birthday tribute, with a star-studded line-up last month.
However, fans were concerned for Elle, 34, who appeared to be slurring her words while singing and talking to the crowd during her onstage tribute.
Elle admitted she was intoxicated during her performance, telling the crowd at the time, “Hi, I’m Elle King, and I’m f**king hammered.”
Rob Schneider’s daughter also forgot the lyrics to Dolly’s song Marry Me while performing and continued to sing one of her own songs instead.
Since the event, the country legend has spoken out about Elle’s memorable performance.
“Elle is really a great artist. She’s a great girl, and she’s been going through a lot of hard things lately. And she just had a little too much to drink,” Dolly told Extra.
“So, let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anybody ever could,” she added.
A source also revealed that the 9 to 5 hitmaker had no plans of criticizing Elle’s performance publicly.
“Dolly in no way is going to bash Elle for her performance at the Opry, that is not Dolly’s style and that will not be Dolly’s intention to take down another artist, especially a fellow female artist,” they explained.
“Dolly doesn’t begin to know what Elle might be going through, if it was just one bad night or something more, but Dolly will not drag Elle in any way, Dolly isn’t going to tear her down.”
The insider continued, “Dolly is going to see it through and expect the best and if she ever talks or sees or performs with Elle in the future, it will all be positive because that is where Dolly’s mindset is at all the time.”
Elle King sparks concern as she ‘drunkenly’ stumbles through ‘cringe’ live NYE performance as fans say she’s ‘wasted’
While Elle has yet to apologize for the situation publicly, the country institution put out its own statement regarding her choice of words.
“We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance,” it read.
RESPONSE FROM FANS
Fans took their thoughts on Elle’s performance to X, formerly Twitter, with one claiming that the singer had “ruined the night with her horrible, drunk, and profane performance.”
“Dolly Parton would’ve been mortified. For our first time at The Opry, it was a shame we all had to witness that,” they added.
The Grand Ole Opry replied, “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.”
People also flocked to social media to express concern for Elle and to say how disappointed they were.
“Someone get Elle King some help. First the NYE disaster and now she has disrespected Dolly in the Mother Church,” one fan tweeted.
“Elle King. how disrespectful. not only to dolly, but to every single person who has walked on that stage. i seriously cannot even believe it,” a second added.
“I hope Elle King gets the help she clearly needs and can get sober,” a concerned fan said.
“#ElleKing disgraced one of the biggest legends of not just country, but of the world. How dare you. #mess,” a final wrote.
DEJA-VU
While it was memorable, this wasn’t the first time Elle performed drunk at a major event.
She performed her song Drunk (And I Don’t Want To Go Home), which features Miranda Lambert, on New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash on December 31.
While singing, Elle walked down the catwalk stage and used a high-pitched voice singing the lyrics, “Baby, I’m drunk and I don’t wanna go home” all while adding “Who does?” at the end.
Taking to X again, one viewer tweeted, “#ElleKing on #CBSNashvilleNYE broadcast was absolutely cringe worthy. A fitting way to say goodbye to 2023.”
“I can’t believe there isn’t anyone who couldn’t jump in and sing with #ElleKing. This is bad, cringy, just not good,” another said.
