Dolly Parton passed away earlier this week. Her rep later revealed that the beloved singer had briefly battled cancer before her death. The tribute rolled in from anyone and everyone whose life she touched in some way. Her death was headline news on all of the networks. But CNN made a major blunder while honoring the icon. They were red in the face and apologizing after the ensuing backlash. Keep reading for more details on their shocking error.
CNN Disrespects Dolly Parton
CNN is one of the most watched news stations in the country. President Trump has blasted the network as “fake news,” and they certainly earned that title in their coverage of Dolly Parton’s death.
Dolly Parton’s passing was covered on Laura Coates Live on Tuesday, August 25, just hours after the singer’s family announced her death. She passed away at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, four days after she was hospitalized.
CNN aired a segment reporting live from Nashville on fan reactions to the loss. The segment included photos of Dolly Parton over the years. But eagle-eyed viewers noticed immediately that one of the photos wasn’t Dolly. It was a lookalike.
TMZ reported that the photo used was Kelly Vohnn, a Dolly Parton impersonator who performs in Las Vegas. CNN released a statement to Entertainment Weekly acknowledging and apologizing for the mistake. “We regret the error and apologize to the Parton family,” the statement said.
In a separate statement, Kelly Vohnn made it clear that she didn’t give CNN permission to use her photo in the report. I would never disrespect Dolly, her family, or her loved ones this way. So please know that I am in no way a part of this,” she told EW.
Fans React To Shocking Mistake
CNN was rightfully blasted for making such a huge mistake. However, some Dolly Parton fans thought the singer would have gotten a kick out of the mistake. After all, Dolly Parton loved to tell the story about entering a lookalike contest and losing to a drag queen.
- “I bet Dolly is cracking up over this!”
- “Dolly would have laughed”
- “Dolly wouldn’t have minded”
- “Honestly, I think dolly would’ve laughed at that. Don’t forget, she entered that dolly lookalike contest and lost”
- “Dolly would have LOVED this!!”
- “I’m guessing Jolene works there!”
CNN should take this as a lesson. However, Kelly Vohnn said that this wasn’t the first time a news outlet used a photo of her instead of Dolly Parton. Share your reaction to the mistake in the comments.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
