Dolly Parton arriving to “Joyful Noise” Los Angeles Premeire on January 19, 2012 in Hollywood, CA Photo: Shutterstock
Rightwing writer Ericka Andersen has apologized for criticizing Dolly Parton in an essay for the conservative online outlet The Federalist.
The piece, titled “There’s Nothing Loving About Dolly Parton’s False Gospel,” has had Parton fans in an uproar since it was published on June 6. In it, Andersen ripped into the “Jolene” singer for her longstanding support of the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly for citing her Christianity as its source.
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“Parton’s version of love, which includes condoning immoral sexual behavior (‘be who you are,’ she’s said), is unaligned with God’s vision for humanity,” Andersen writes. “Like so many secularized spiritual leaders, Parton equates love with agreement, but the two are not reciprocal. Love doesn’t mean we must accept sinfulness as good to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.”
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As recently as last November, Parton spoke about how her faith has influenced her support of the LGBTQ+ community and her awareness of how anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric affects them.
“I try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it. I have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees. I’ve got transgender people. I’ve got gays. I’ve got lesbians. I’ve got drunks. I’ve got drug addicts — all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I know and love them all, and I do not judge. And I just see how broken-hearted they get over certain things and I know how real they are. I know how important this is to them. That’s who they are. They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton, you know, the way people know me. If there’s something to be judged, that is God’s business. But we are all God’s children and how we are is who we are.”
Given Parton’s large and devoted fanbase, Andersen was clearly playing with fire when she decided to call out the “9-to-5” singer. And Parton’s fans responded in kind.
“They came for Dolly,” one fan wrote on X. “We ride at dawn.”
“No. You do not come after Dolly Parton. You absolutely do not,” another X user wrote.
“I’m not 100-percent sure Dolly Parton isn’t Jesus Christ. Maybe she’s the second coming and quite frankly I WILL follow her off into glory,” another posted. “The Federalist can shut their drunk mouths. Dolly is a LEGEND.”
“I’m not 100-percent sure Dolly Parton isn’t Jesus Christ. Maybe she’s the second coming and quite frankly I WILL follow her off into glory” 💅
Amid the widespread backlash, Andersen apologized for attacking Parton over the weekend.
“I regret using Dolly as the example for the point I was making in the article,” she told Yahoo! Entertainment Saturday. “As I wrote in the piece, I love her and think she does some incredible things for the world. We all make poor choices in how to frame things sometimes. This was one of those moments for me! Dolly is one of the few people who is beloved by all and who loves all. The world is lucky to have her.”
Notably Andersen, who has written op-eds on Christian issues for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, had nothing to say about her own anti-LGBTQ+ views or her twisted take on Christ’s commandment to “Judge not lest ye be judged.”
