Dolly Parton has addressed Elle King's drunken performance at a tribute show celebtrating her 78th birthday.
The country star has broken her silence following Elle's performance during her 78th birthday celebration at the Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in January.
During her performance, Elle, 34, told the audience that she was "f**king hammered" and repeatedly slurred her words and forgot the lyrics to the songs she was performing.
In a recent interview with Extra, Dolly spoke out about the performance and defended Elle, describing her as a "great girl".
"Elle is really a great artist. She's a great girl, and she's been going through a lot of hard things lately," the Jolene hitmaker said. "And she just had a little too much to drink."
Dolly added, "So, let's just forgive that and forget it and move on, 'cause she felt worse than anybody ever could."
Shortly after the Ex's & Oh's singer's performance was cut short, representatives for the famed country institution issued a public apology on social media.
"We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance," they said in the statement.
In the weeks following the performance, Elle postponed multiple shows, but did not reveal the reasons for the rescheduling.
