Dolly Parton Under Fire After 2022 Video Of Her Supporting The Ukrainian People Has Gone Viral In Wake Of President Trump’s Meeting With Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Casey Young·
COUNTRY MUSICNEWS
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Dolly Parton country music
ACM Awards

This is why context is SO important.

I think almost everyone has seen the now-viral exchange between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, where Zelenskyy was visiting to sign a rare mineral deal between the United States and Ukraine in an effort to help end the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has been ongoing since 2022 when Russia first invaded.

Well, it didn’t exactly go as planned… while speaking with press in the Oval Office at the White House, it got heated when Trump told Zelenskyy to show more gratitude for American support, after we’ve spent billions of taxpayer dollars funding this war, and the situation escalated as Trump and Vance warned Zelenskyy that without a deal, U.S. support could be withdrawn, stating, “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” and suggesting that Ukraine would be left to “fight it out” alone.

Vance also defended Trump’s diplomatic approach, including his interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while chastising Zelenskyy for his handling of the war and past media appearances. Zelenskyy attempted to correct what he believe where misinterpretations, though obviously this whole conversation blew up the deal, so to speak, very publicly, and he ultimately left the United States with nothing more than what he came here with.

It should be noted however, that there was more than 30 minutes of conversation before it all went south… despite what some may think, JD Vance didn’t go hard on the Ukrainian President the second he sat down.

Afterward, President Trump took to Truth Social, claiming Zelenskyy “disrespected the United States” and was “not ready for peace,” suggesting he could return “when he is ready.” Zelenskyy later posted a conciliatory message on X, thanking America for its support.

Later that day, Zelenskyy appeared on Special Report for an interview with Bret Baier, where he did thank the American people and apologized for what happened:

I’m no foreign policy expert so I won’t even begin to try to get into the nuance and many arguments and positions on not only what happened at the Oval Office, but the implications for the broader war as a whole… but I can tell you there’s a country icon getting pulled into it for no reason with a viral video online.

Back in March of 2022, Dolly Parton hosted the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, which she opened with by dedicating the entire show to our “brothers and sisters in Ukraine.” Keep in mind, this was a month or so after Russia initially invaded, which happened in February.

I think many people had a very different stance on it then as opposed to now in terms of U.S. aid and involvement on that front, and generally most Americans were supportive of Ukrainian efforts to defend themselves against their Russian adversaries. Of course, that was before the United States spent over $150 billion supporting the war, which seems to have no end in sight. But at the time, this wasn’t even really viewed as political, and certainly didn’t make viral headlines (could’ve also been because no one cares about the ACM’s, but I digress…).

Dolly said:

“I don’t want to be political and this is not. I’d rather pass a kidney stone than do that. I want us to send our love and hope to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Let’s dedicate this whole show to them and pray for peace around this crazy world.”

Pretty harmless, and Dolly is one to always stay out of politics (her sister, Stella, not so much). Dolly has turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom from both democrat and republican Presidents, and she rarely, rarely, speaks publicly about politics.

It’s generally been a pretty effective strategy, but some online are jumping the gun, so to speak, and commenting and sharing her ACM speech as if it just happened… I think most of them think she was in concert this weekend, and took the time to comment about what happened in the Oval Office with Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy. And of course, that’s simply not true. I’ve seen journalists, influencers and the general public, from both sides of the aisle responding to this video, and if they really knew anything about Dolly, they would know that she would never say something political in the context of what recently went down:

Now, multiple large accounts have shared the video on X, and in total it already has millions of views. People are either very into it, or very upset about what she said, without realizing that they’re completely wrong about the situation and context of this, which happened years ago now. Luckily, the video has received a Community Note, confirming that the video us from the 2022 ACM Awards.

It’s frustrating that stuff like this can happen so easily and people just jump to conclusions without fully looking into a video like this, but that’s the internet for you… but I’m here to set the record straight for my queen, who is being unfairly slandered online and I will not stand for it. Of course, Dolly certainly isn’t checking X, she doesn’t even text according to Miley Cyrus.

Nevertheless, this is why it’s crucial to always think twice, and check three times on the facts, before you hit “send” on a tweet… just look at some of the commentary right now:

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