Elle King Speaks Out For The First Time About Her Dolly Parton Tribute

Elle King posted a message to her supporters — and her haters — months after her controversial Dolly Parton tribute performance that prompted an apology from the Grand Ole Opry.

King, 34, was part of the Opry Goes Dolly show in celebration of the beloved music legend’s 78th birthday on January 19, which took place at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. During hr performance, King seemingly forgot the words to Parton’s “Marry Me,” and used profanity (including stating that she was “f***ing hammered,” while appearing drunk) in front of the audience. After the performance, King rescheduled some of her upcoming shows. Parton previously shared her response to the performance, telling Extra’s Alecia Davis: “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. So, let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on because she felt worse than anybody ever could.”

King posted a reel on Instagram over the weekend, addressing the Opry Goes Dolly performance for the first time. The video shows the Come Get Your Wife star running up the stairs of an empty arena before a show. Text over the screen reads:

“To everyone sending me love because I’m human and already talked to Dolly, I love you. To everyone who told me to k*ll myself, I love you too.”

King added in her caption, “oh no was my human showing🫶❤️🫂,” and added the hashtag “WWDD,” standing for What Would Dolly Do.

King returned to the stage for the first time since the Opry Goes Dolly performance earlier this month at the Extra Innings Festival in Tempe, Arizona. Over the weekend, King performed at the C2C Country to Country music festival. The lineup throughout the weekend also included Old Dominion, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Carly Pearce, Brad Paisley, Jake Owen and others. King said her London performance was “so unbelievable,” and “a dream come true.”