Country music legend Dolly Parton says she was offered the Presidential Medial of Freedom twice by President Donald Trump, but turned it down both times.
Parton appears on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday for a virtual interview with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, who asked the “9 to 5″ singer about the time President Barack Obama said his “biggest mistake” in office was not giving Parton the Medal of Freedom.
“He said, he’s going to call his friend Joe. Have you heard from Joe, otherwise known as President Biden?” Bush Hager said in a clip released before the broadcast.
“I actually have. To be honest, in all fairness, I got offered the Freedom Award from the Trump Administration. I couldn’t accept it because my husband was ill. Then, they asked me again about it, and I wouldn’t travel because of the Covid,” Parton said. “So now, I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics. So, I’m not sure. I don’t work for those awards. It’d be nice but I’m not sure that I, you know, that I ever deserve it. But that’s a nice compliment for people to think I might deserve it.”
In November, Obama appeared on “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, who asked why the former president never gave Parton an award.
“Actually, that was a screwup, I’m surprised,” Obama told the late night-host. “I think I assumed that she’d already got one and that was incorrect. I’m surprised, she deserves one.”
Obama promised to put in a word to his former vice president, now President Joe Biden.
Parton, who turned 75 last month, is the Grammy-winning voice on hits like “Jolene,” “Islands in the Stream” (with Kenny Rogers), “9 to 5″ and “I Will Always Love You.” She’s also acted in movies like “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Steel Magnolias”; has donated more than 100 million children’s books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library; helped families displaced by the Tennessee wildfires through the Dollywood Foundation; and gave $1 million to help fund coronavirus research at Vanderbilt University, which helped develop the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.
“I’m just happy that anything I do can help somebody else, and when I donated the money to the Covid fund, I just wanted it to do good,” she said last November. “Evidently, it is.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the highest civilian awards, given to people who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Obama gave the Medal of Freedom to several musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder, as well as actor Sidney Poitier, TV legend Oprah Winfrey, and Biden.
According to NBC, Trump awarded just one musician with the Presidential Medal of Freedom: The late Elvis Presley. Trump also gave the Freedom medal to Tiger Woods, Rush Limbaugh and Lou Holtz, and honored other musicians like Toby Keith and Ricky Skaggs with the National Medal of the Arts.
Parton is part of a Super Bowl commercial for Squarespace on Sunday, flipping “9 to 5″ into “5 to 9″ in a Damien Chazelle-directed ad for people who pursue their dreams after hours. She’s also using the web company to launch her new perfume at DollyFragrance.com.
“A lot of people through the years have wanted to change the lyrics to fit certain things they’re doing. I really thought that was a wonderful thing, especially for Squarespace. They’re so into people, new entrepreneurs working after hours to start their own businesses,” Parton said. “‘5 to 9′ seemed to be a perfect thing when they pitched it.”
"freedom" - Google News
February 02, 2021 at 08:11PM
https://ift.tt/2MqB333
Dolly Parton says she turned down Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump twice - syracuse.com
"freedom" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2VUAlgg
https://ift.tt/2VYSiKW
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Dolly Parton says she turned down Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump twice - syracuse.com"
Post a Comment