Dolly Parton Pushes Back on Kardashian Family Worship in Talk With Khloé Kardashian
Khloé Kardashian and Dolly Parton have cultivated a warm, genuine connection that bridges generations. Their friendship shines in moments like when Kardashian featured Parton’s Duncan Hines baking mixes on Instagram, prompting Parton to personally send her goodies and sweetly respond, “I love you for it. Hope to meet you one day.” This camaraderie blossomed further during Kardashian’s Khloé in Wonder Land podcast, where Parton appeared as a guest and shared heartfelt life stories. During the conversation, Parton got candid about hero worship. Here’s what she warned Kardashian of.
Dolly Parton pushed back against worshipping other celebrities in a talk with Khloé Kardashian
Dolly Parton’s appearance on Khloé in Wonder Land revealed a captivating and heartfelt conversation between two cultural icons. On the July 10 episode, Parton opened up about her deep faith and the importance of staying grounded despite fame, explaining, “I ask God to keep me humble… I’m still grounded even with these high heels.” The two also laughed over Dolly’s timeless humor — like the story of her grandfather joking, “Well, don’t you want to go to heaven?” when she piled on eyeliner. Dolly quipped, “Do I have to look like hell to get there?”
In an emotional turn, Parton discussed how she’s paused songwriting following the loss of her husband in March, sharing that her grief makes it impossible to finish new songs right now. Additionally, she’s relying on her faith and resilience during this bittersweet time.
During the discussion, Parton opened up about standing against hero worship — and it might’ve hit home for Khloé Kardashian.
“Being in show business, the way people follow you [the Kardashians] and the way they follow me. I’ve asked God every day, ‘Do not let me fall under that. If they see something good in me, let me find my way to give that back,'” Parton explained. “I think you have to be very careful. I think that’s one of the reasons I stayed very humble. … You need to stand for something good. If you’re lucky enough to get in a position where you touch people, you reach people, you need to do that in the right way.”
Fans think Khloé Kardashian needed to hear this wisdom from the country superstar
Khloé Kardashian rose to fame in 2007 as part of the reality TV juggernaut Keeping Up with the Kardashians. While initially known as the outspoken and quick-witted younger sister of Kim and Kourtney, Khloé quickly carved out her own identity, winning fans over with her unfiltered humor, emotional honesty, and resilience in the face of public scrutiny.
Fans love Dolly Parton’s wisdom that she imparted to the reality star.
“I love that Khloé got this interaction,” a fan on Reddit wrote. “I do think she gets heavily influenced [by] Kim on what a celeb is and being seen. But I think Khloé would resonate more with Dolly and doing things to help others more.”
“Literally no one better to say this to one of them than Dolly Parton,” another fan wrote. “I hope she hears it.”
“I feel like Dolly knew what she was doing when she was hanging with them,” another fan commented. “If they could ever be influenced by anyone, please let Dolly show them how to give back and make the world a better place.”
Dolly Parton said a lot of ‘sacrifice’ went into making her dreams a reality
Dolly Parton expressed how extreme success comes with extreme sacrifice — and Khloé Kardashian agreed.
“I just want everybody to find themselves,” Parton said on the podcast. “I want everybody to be able to do the best at what it is they dream of doing. … But you’ve got to be willing to know that you’re going to have to compromise, and you’re going to have to sacrifice. But never sacrifice the things that are the most meaningful to you. You gotta work your butt off.”
“A dream is a dream, and you’ve gotta work it,” the country star continued.
As for what’s next for Parton, she said she doesn’t know.
“I’ve gotta finish the things I’ve already got in the works,” she added.
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