Dolly Parton backs Elle King amid backlash: 'Forgive her'

Dolly Parton is throwing weight behind Elle King, who was under fire for forgetting the lyrics of her song while giving a tribute on her 78th birthday.

Speaking to Extra TV, the Jolene singer said, "Elle is really a great artist. She's a great girl, and she's been going through of hard things lately."

She continued, "She just had a little too much to drink, so let's just forgive that and forget it and move on 'cause she felt worse than anyone ever could."

Last month, Elle performed at the Grand Ole Opry concert with other artists, including Ashley Monroe, Tigirlily Gold, Dailey & Vincent, and Terri Clark.

But, the 34-year-old was caught in a tense verbal spat with some concertgoer after she forgot lines of the legendary country musician's track Marry Me.

"I don't know the lyrics to these things in this **** town," the singer admitted. "Don't tell Dolly 'cause it's her birthday."

She later added after the song: "Everyone's like, holy ****, we bought tickets to this ****, I'm not even going to lie. "

Some in the audience demanded refunds, according to several Tiktok videos. However, Elle told them they "ain't gettin' your money back."

One Tiktok user even alleged the Lucky crooner swore "about 15 times" before the exchange with the crowd and "forgot the words to the Dolly song she was supposed to sing."

Registering an intense backlash, Elle added, "I'll tell you one thing more. Hi, my name is Elle King, and I'm ******* hammered."