Dolly Parton spoke out to "Extra" recently about the controversy caused last month by Elle King. During the Grand Ole Opry's Jan. 19 celebration of Parton's 78th birthday, King forgot lyrics and proclaimed that she was "f**king hammered" while performing Parton's "Marry Me."
Clips from the night show King flubbing Parton's lyrics, substituting such lines as "I don't give a shi*t" and "I don't know the lyrics to these things in this f**king town... Don't tell Dolly 'cause it's her birthday."
In the aftermath, at least one dissatisfied customer got a public apology from the Opry on Twitter.
"We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance," the Opry's posted.
Additionally, Parton's sister Stella didn't mince her words on the same social media platform.
"Since we're comparing apples to oranges on here. I'm still stewing and thinking bout how any lil spoiled brat with an opportunity to sing on the Opry to pay tribute to a legendary songwriter like Dolly Parton would just piss on the star circle on the stage," Stella wrote, adding that "Taylor Swift wouldn't."
Parton handled the controversy with grace, asking us to show a little grace of our own toward King.
"Elle is really a great artist," Parton said. "She's a great girl, and she's been going through hard things lately... She just had a little too much to drink, so let's just forgive that and forget it and move on, 'cause she felt worse than anyone ever could."
During the week after the Opry incidents, King postponed several upcoming shows, clearing her concert calendar until March.
King has yet to release any kind of public statement about the Opry controversy.
In the same interview with "Extra," Parton revealed what she got for her birthday from her husband, Carl Dean, as well as answering which half of the longstanding married couple's the most romantic.
