A 2003 interview with Oprah Winfrey and Dolly Parton has resurfaced with many fans of the country icon believing the singer was made to feel embarrassed over the amount of plastic surgery she has had.
However, fans are praising the 9 to 5 singer for her masterful handling of Winfrey’s questions.
A snippet of the 2003 interview was posted to Twitter this week where it has gained one million views and hundreds of replies.
i feel like oprah wanted her to be embarrassed but ms dolly said “nope” pic.twitter.com/QuYnxx1fNT
— keiajah (key-asia) 💛🌻🤎 (@keiajahhh) August 28, 2021
In the interview, Oprah sceptically asked: “How are you defying age, Dolly? Whatcha doing?”
Dolly quipped: “Oh I don’t know, I’m a cartoon so I just look the same all the time.”
Oprah followed up with: “You’ve been open about that you’ve had some work done, some tucks and pulls and sucks.”
Dolly responded: “Yes I have and I’ll have some more when I need ‘em.”
The audience laughs with Dolly and Oprah responds “really?” while looking at the camera.
Dolly added: “I have a funny little thing I was telling the girls, all the girls that are singing on this tribute album, a lot of them are very young. I said I was already into plastic surgery when they were still sleeping on plastic sheets.”
Some Twitter users didn’t take kindly to Oprah seemingly trying to humiliate the Queen of Country, with many praising her gracious handling of the questions:
Dolly's acceptance of herself is honestly the best gift she gives us, even with ALL she gives. I'd love to stop apologizing & feeling shame for normal things. She's a true Lama (And her family call her that so it's perfect).
— ElizabethWifeOfAnImmigrant (@elizabethreadsa) August 28, 2021
Oprah looked so salty when she couldn’t get her to react how she wanted.. Lmaoo
— Dorothy Zbornak (@TheNaturalNu) August 28, 2021
You can't embarrass anyone as sweet, genuine, funny and self-deprecating as Dolly. You can sense there's not a bad bone in her body and she can disarm anyone with the warmth of spirit she radiates. A rare one-off. Love her, ❤ from the UK.
— Zanna Merryn (@ZannaMerryn) August 29, 2021
She was so salty!!!!! 😩😩😩😩 pic.twitter.com/65OPqkrRex
— Dorothy Zbornak (@TheNaturalNu) August 28, 2021
You can’t shame someone who isn’t ashamed 💅🏾
— ṨADÉ! (@redbyori) August 28, 2021
Oprah looked so salty when she couldn’t get her to react how she wanted.. Lmaoo
— Dorothy Zbornak (@TheNaturalNu) August 28, 2021
Can't embarrass Dolly. She owns her sh*t. She is who she is, who she wants to be and doesn't apologize for it, nor should she. Incredible person all the way through. ❤ & respect @DollyParton so much.
— Bree (@BreeKnNY) August 29, 2021
Well done Dolly. Honesty and dignity wins the day. X
— David Marcus (@quantumleap50) September 5, 2021
However not everyone agreed that Oprah was trying to embarrass Dolly in any way, with some noting that at the time of broadcast speaking about plastic surgery so openly would have been a rarity.
Y’all need to stop. She’s reading the teleprompter.
— ✨June✨ (@JuneSummer1) August 29, 2021
Do y’all understand that they were *both* *knowingly* and *intentionally* having an open discussion about things that were taboo to openly discuss?
— Eminently 🏳️🌈 (@eminently_me5) August 29, 2021
I feel like these are two legends discussing a formerly taboo subject in a rather groundbreaking interview.
— 💜 Fully Pfizered 5G Faction💉 #WearAMask😷 (@ThunderHeadFan) August 29, 2021
Perhaps looking at a miniscule snippet of the past has deprived you of some very necessary context.
These two were working together, not adversarial at all.🤔🤷🏻♀️
Oprah wasn’t trying to embarrass her. Dolly’s very open about all the work she’s had done, and jokes about it all the time.
— Damita Jo (@cbrunoooo) August 29, 2021
I watched this interview when it originally aired years ago & never got any of the impressions of Oprah that some of you are insinuating. It was lovely to see both women together.
— 💜ᴮᴱPoeticKoya⁷🦋💜 (@ImperfectpoetTG) August 29, 2021
Either way, we can all agree on one thing - charismatic Dolly handled it beautifully.
