Dolly Parton twice declined Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump administration
A few months ago, Stephen Colbert ribbed former President Barack Obama on "The Late Show" about not awarding Dolly Parton the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"That's a mistake," Obama said. "I'm shocked."
Turns out, Parton's been asked — twice.
She declined the award, considered one of the highest in U.S. culture, from the Trump administration, according to a new "Today" show interview.
"I couldn't accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn't travel because of the COVID," she told "Today."
She's heard from the Biden administration about the honor, but might again balk at accepting.
"Now I feel like if I take it," Parton said, "I'll be doing politics, so I'm not sure."
Along with masterful songwriting, Parton's led a career of boundless philanthropy. She donated $1 million last year to aid development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the latest headline in years of caring that's endeared her to onlookers.
Parton tweeted she would be donating a million dollars to Vanderbilt because of her friendship with Dr. Naji Abumrad, who treated her after a 2014 car crash and informed the country star that the hospital was making "exciting advancements" toward a cure for the coronavirus.
"I'm just happy that anything I do can help somebody else. And when I donated the money to the COVID fund I wanted it to do good and evidently, it is!" she told "Today" during a virtual appearance in November. "Let's just hope we find a cure real soon."
Her tweet of the interview clip garnered positive reaction from Twitter users with more than 71,000 likes and nearly 9,000 retweets at the time.
In 1995, Parton launched the Imagination Library, a literacy non-profit that has since donated more than 150 million books to children.
And she "doesn't do it for the awards," Parton told "Today."
"It'd be nice but I'm not sure that I even deserve it," she said. "But it's a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it."
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