Dolly Parton recalls her conversation with Elle King after performance backlash, says she's 'a doll'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Dolly Parton has expressed her forgiveness to Elle King following the singer's controversial performance at the Grand Ole Opry.

In January, the 'Ex's & Oh's' singer was slammed after she openly declared herself to be "f******g hammered" during a performance as a birthday tribute to Parton at the music venue.

Dolly Parton wants fans to forgive Elle King

In an interview with E! News, the 78-year-old singer shared her sentiments about the controversial performance that caused quite a stir in the music community.

"Elle King is a doll," Parton said of King. "I called her, and I said, ‘You know, there are many F-words. Why don't we use the right one? Forgiveness, friends, forget it,'" she added.

"She made a mistake," Parton remarked as she hoped fans treat King kindly.

"She feels worse about it than anybody. But she's a talented girl. She's going through some hard times, and I think she just had a little too much to drink and then that just hit her," she added.

"So, we need to get over that because she's a great artist and a great person," she continued.

"Ain't we all done something stupid in our lives? Let's forget it and forgive her. That's the F-words I'm using tonight," she added.

Elle King's controversial tribute performance

At the concert held in honor of the '9 to 5' singer's 78th birthday, King performed a rendition of Parton's 2001 track 'Marry Me.'

However, the 34-year-old appeared to forget the lyrics and she began swearing.

As seen in a video shared on TikTok, the 34-year-old performed a rendition of Parton's 2001 hit 'Marry Me.' However, she appeared to forget the words and began swearing.

"I'll tell you one thing more. Hi, my name is Elle King. I'm f*****g hammered," she told the audience.

The incident received backlash leading the historic music organization to issue a public apology about King's show.

"We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used," Grand Ole Opry noted on social media.

However, King has not yet publicly addressed her tribute performance to Parton.

Meanwhile, Parton wants to redirect the conversation towards a different topic, the upcoming Dolly Parton's Pet Gala, an event featuring a variety dog fashion show that is set to be aired at 9 pm EST on CBS on February 21.

"We love animals, everybody does. And I've been trying to figure out something to do after I did the rock and roll album," Parton told E!News.

"And so I'm always anxious to do something for pets, I just thought it'd be a great idea," she added.