Dolly Parton twice turned down the highest U.S. civilian honor of receiving the presidential medal of freedom from former President Donald Trump when he was in office. Parton isn’t sure if she will accept the award from President Joe Biden, either.
“I couldn’t accept it because my husband was ill,” she told NBC’s Today. “And then they asked me again about it and I wouldn’t travel because of the COVID.”
“Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” revealed Parton that she heard from the Biden administration. “I don’t work for those awards. It’d be nice but I’m not sure that I even deserve it. But it’s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.”
Last April, Parton donated $1 million to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for research and development of the drug. “I’m sure many, many millions of dollars from many people went into that but I felt proud to have been part of that little seed money that hopefully will grow into something great and help to heal this world. Lord knows we need it,” she told BBC at the time.
In November, late night talk show host Stephen Colbert asked former president Barack Obama, “How does Dolly Parton not have a presidential medal of freedom?”
“That’s a mistake. I’m shocked. Actually, that was a screw up, I’m surprised,” Obama replied. “I think I assumed that she’d already got one and that was incorrect. I’m surprised, she deserves one.” Obama then proceeded to say that he would “call Biden” about it.
