Entertainment icon Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the Trump administration twice, but the living legend, who is known for staying out of politics, says it wasn’t because of the president. She also said the Biden administration had reached out about it as well.
Said Parton to Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush on the TODAY show: “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. 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 even deserve it. But that’s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.”
Parton made headlines in November after it was revealed she had donated $1 million to facilitate the development of the Moderna COVID vaccine.
