Dolly Parton says no to statue

Country-pop star rejects Tennessee bill to create ‘Dolly Parton fund’

Dolly Parton took to social media Thursday to declare that she doesn’t want the Tennessee legislature to approve putting up a statue of her at the state capitol. “I want to thank the Tennessee legislature for their consideration of a bill to erect a statue of me on the Capitol grounds,” she wrote. “I am honored and humbled by their intention,” she continued — but not that humbled, necessarily, by the governing body’s attempt to come up with some feel-good legislation amid all of its famously divisive and controversial bills.

The country-pop superstar said that she has “asked the leaders of the state legislature to remove the bill from any and all consideration. With all that is going on in the world, I don’t think that putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time.”

Enshrining Parton at the capitol had been talked about for years, and the idea especially picked up steam when the possible removal of statues of famous Confederates from the Capitol became a flashpoint for debate in recent years, with some saying the biggest star ever to come out of Tennessee would be a good candidate to go up in their stead.

A bill was introduced in January by Rep. John Windle (D-Livingston) that would create a “Dolly Parton fund” and entrust the State Capitol Commission with developing a plan for placing a Parton statue. The bill to approve a Parton statue is still scheduled to be considered next week, although it’s unlikely to get far now with Parton’s explicit disapproval.