Dolly Parton Asks Fans to 'Forgive' Elle King for Being 'Hammered' at Grand Ole Opry Performance: 'She's a Great Girl'

Dolly Parton isn’t holding a grudge against Elle King, and she wants her fans to do the same.

The "Jolene" singer spoke out nearly one month after King was admittedly intoxicated during a performance at the Grand Ole Opry, where Nashville's hottest stars came together to celebrate Parton's 78th birthday on Friday, January 19.

"Elle is really a great artist," Parton expressed while sharing her reaction to King's drunken on-stage fiasco during an interview with a news publication.

The "9 to 5" hitmaker noted King is "a great girl" and seemingly excused her actions by stating, "she's been going through [a lot] of hard things lately."

"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," Parton declared.

The Hannah Montana: The Movie actress' birthday celebration also featured performances from Ashley Monroe, Tigirlily Gold, Daily & Vincent and Terri Clark, however, King's was certainly most memorable for social media users — even if not for the right reasons.

As OK! previously reported, King shouted, "hi, my name is Elle King. I'm f------ hammered," before attempting to perform Parton's 2001 song "Marry Me" for those in attendance.

"I don't know the lyrics to this thing in this f------- town. Don't tell Dolly 'cause it's her birthday," King continued with slurred speech, as seen in a viral TikTok video. "I'm not even gonna f------ lie, you bought tickets for this s---? You ain't getting your money back."

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King eventually gave up on trying to perform one of Parton's hits and tried to sing one of her own.

"I can barely play another person's song; let me see if I can play one of mine," the "Ex's and Oh's" singer said, though the venue eventually "shut the curtain on her," per a TikToker's recollection of the unfortunate chain of events.

King has yet to directly address being overly drunk at Parton's birthday celebration, though the 34-year-old did reschedule several upcoming concerts that had dates set for later this year.

One day after her inebriated appearance, the Grand Ole Opry spoke out in response to an upset fan claiming King "ruined the night with her horrible, drunk, and profane performance," insisting it was "a shame we all had to witness that."

"Hi Judas, we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance," the Nashville music venue replied to the angered attendee via X (formerly named Twitter.)

Extra's Alecia Davis spoke to Parton about King.