Dolly Parton Talks Britney, Lindsay and Miley

The country superstar feels bad for Lohan and Spears and jokes about living in Cyrus' shadow

By Marc Malkin Aug 04, 2008 8:20 PMTags
Britney Spears, Dolly Parton, Lindsay LohanGamma/Eyedea/ZUMA / AP Photo Bebeto Matthews / Lisa O'Connor/Zuma

Dolly Parton says it's time to leave a couple of the world's most famous starlets alone.

"Poor little Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan," Parton said at her concert last night at L.A.'s Greek Theatre. "Ain't it awful? If those little girls slept with as many men as they say in the tabloids, why their little butts would have more fingerprints than the FBI!"

All kidding aside, Parton said, "I kinda feel sorry for them. We should give those two a break."

It's too bad Spears and Lohan weren't in the audience to hear Parton's got their back. So, who was at the show?

In the house were T.R. Knight, Vince Vaughn, Katherine Heigl with singer hubby Josh Kelley and Rose McGowan.

Parton also talked about playing second fiddle to Miley Cyrus after guest-starring on Hannah Montana as "Aunt Dolly." "A lot of little kids come up to me and say, 'Aunt Dolly!' " Parton said. And I say, 'Would you little girls like an autograph?' And they say, 'Oh, yes! When you see Miley, please get us one.' "

Parton sang almost all of her hits ("Coat of Many Colors," "Islands in the Stream," "9 to 5," etc.) in the more than two-hour show. She performed a honky-tonked cover of the Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy" and belted out "Backwoods Barbie," the title song of her new album that will also be featured in the new 9 to 5 stage musical.

She even got a bit political—kinda.

Some fans wore T-shirts reading, "Dolly for President."

"I don’t think so!" Parton said of her presidential aspirations. "I think there have been enough boobs in the White House."

Commenting on how times have changed, she said of this year's presidential race, "We've had a woman, we have a black man and an old stiff."

But that's as serious as she got when it came to current events.

"People are always asking me in interviews, 'What do you think of foreign affairs?' I just say, 'I've had a few.' "

And the boob jokes were aplenty. "They say, 'What do you think about global warming?' " Parton said. "I say, 'If my globes get too warm, I just take my sweater off.' "