02 February 2021
Newsdesk
Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former U.S. president Donald Trump twice during his time in office.
However, the legendary singer told the Today Show that her rejection of the prize wasn't due to her feelings about the controversial leader, but in fact due to matters closer to home.
“I couldn’t accept it because my husband (Carl Dean) was ill, and then they asked me again about it, and I wouldn’t travel because of the Covid," she said.
And while Parton has already been offered the medal again by new president Joe Biden's White House administration, she's still unsure whether or not she will accept.
"Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” she sighed. "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.”
In December, Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stated, admitted he was shocked Dolly wasn't yet the owner of one of the medals.
"That's a mistake - I'm shocked. That was a screw up. I'm surprised. I think I assumed that she had already got one, and that was incorrect," he said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
"She deserves one. I'll call Biden!"
