Parton asks Tennessee legislature to halt statue effort

Parton posted on Instagram, "I want to thank the Tennessee legislature for their consideration of a bill to erect a statue of me on the Capitol grounds. I am honored and humbled by their intention, but I have asked the leaders of the state legislature to remove the bill from any and all consideration."

"Given all that is going on in the world, I don't think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time. I hope, though, that somewhere down the road several years from now or perhaps after I'm gone, if you still feel I deserve it, then I'm certain I will stand proud in our great State Capitol as a grateful Tennessean. In the meantime, I'll continue to try to do good work to make this great state proud."

In January, a state representative proposed honoring Parton for her contributions to the state with a statue.

Parton has been philanthropic in a variety of ways to the state. She created the Imagination Library to encourage reading, made donations to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, contributed to help people affected by wildfires in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn. in 2016, and recently made a $1 million donation to COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University, which helped fund the Moderna vaccine.