Fact Check: Did Dolly Parton twice decline the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump admin?

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Following Dolly Parton’s death on August 25 at age 80 after a battle with cancer, rumors and claims about the country music icon have spread across social media. One claim says Parton twice declined offers of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump’s administration. As tributes continue to pour in from around the world, renewed interest in Parton’s life, career and political connections has brought the claim back into focus.

Claim: Dolly Parton twice declined offers of the Presidential Medal of Freedom 

The rumor began with an X user, Alex Cole, who posted about Dolly Parton on August 26. The user wrote, “Fun Fact: Dolly Parton twice declined offers of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump's administration.” The post had received more than 232K views at the time of writing, with several users discussing the claim.

Some users supported the claim by pointing to Parton’s nonpolitical public image. One user wrote, “She’s never been political. She’s talked about it several times.” Another user noted, “She also declined from Biden.”

Another commenter added, “Obama didn’t even offer Dolly Parton the Presidential Medal of Freedom AND Joe Biden’s administration reached out to Dolly Parton about the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but she ultimately did not accept or receive the honor.”

Other users questioned whether Parton had actually declined the offers from Trump’s administration. One user asked Grok, “Did Dolly Parton decline offers of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the Trump administration?”

Fact Check: Dolly Parton did decline Presidential Medal of Freedom

The claim is true, based on Dolly Parton’s own comments in a 2021 interview.

During a February 2021 appearance on NBC’s Today show, Parton said Donald Trump’s administration offered her the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice, but she declined both times for personal and practical reasons.

Parton said she turned down the first offer because her husband, Carl Dean, was ill. She declined the second offer because she did not want to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. She made clear that her decisions were not politically motivated.

Dolly Parton also declined an offer of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Joe Biden. 

On January 4, 2025, Biden awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor to 19 people, including Hillary Clinton, Michael J. Fox, Bono and Jane Goodall. However, several social media posts noted that Parton had never received the medal and had reportedly declined it multiple times.

A Threads user wrote in January 2025, “Today I learned that Dolly Parton has been offered the Presidential Medal 3 times and has declined each time.” A popular X post from 2023 also claimed that Parton had declined offers from both Donald Trump and Biden.

During the same February 2021 appearance on NBC’s Today, Parton also explained why she was unsure about accepting an offer from the Biden administration. She said, “Now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics, so I'm not sure.” She added, “I don't work for those awards. It'd be nice, but I'm not sure that I even deserve it.”