Dolly Parton wants to 'forgive' and 'forget' Elle King's 'hammered' performance

Singer-songwriter Elle King took a lot of heat for her drunken performance during a birthday tribute to Dolly Parton at the Grand Ole Opry in January. Fans were irate, King apologized, and the Opry itself apologized. 

But Parton? She's taking a more magnanimous approach. The country legend spoke for the first time about the incident with Extra. "Elle is really a great artist," Parton said. "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. So, let's just forgive that and forget it and move on, 'cause she felt worse than anybody ever could."

At the tribute concert, King took the stage for a performance of Parton's "Marry Me." However, an intoxicated King told the crowd she didn't know the words and made up her own lyrics to the song. "Don't tell Dolly," King said. 

In a fan shot video, King can be heard saying, "Holy s---, I’m not even gonna f---ing lie, y’all bought tickets for this s---? You ain’t getting your money back. I’ll tell you one thing more. Hi, my name is Elle King and I’m f---ing hammered.’”

The venue apologized on X (formerly Twitter). "We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance," it read. 

One attendee took to social media with their complaints. "Elle King ruined the night with her horrible, drunk, and profane performance. Dolly Parton would've been mortified," they wrote.

Well, now we know that Parton is not mortified but is instead showing understanding and forgiveness. Everyone should have known that's how the Queen of Country would respond.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Elle King faces backlash for being 'f---ing hammered' during Dolly Parton tribute concert
• Dolly Parton's birthday gift to fans is an expanded version of Rockstar
• Jeff Tweedy shares why he thinks Dolly Parton shouldn't have written 'I Will Always Love You'