Overview
- Ricky Schroder posted an Instagram tribute that criticized Dolly Parton’s support for transgender rights and COVID-19 vaccines and said he “loved her anyway,” following her death on Tuesday.
- High-profile responses flooded social platforms, with Katie Couric, Boy George and the band Garbage among those condemning Schroder’s decision to make political points in a condolence post.
- Schroder then shared an Instagram Story clip of Parton endorsing the vaccine with the caption “I warned Dolly to not support the Experiment. Wished she listened,” and coverage reports he has not issued a conciliatory apology.
- Most public and celebrity tributes instead emphasized Parton’s decades of LGBTQ advocacy, her $1 million donation to Vanderbilt research linked to the Moderna vaccine, and family requests that donations be made to her Imagination Library.
- News accounts placed Schroder’s remarks in the context of his prior right-leaning social posts and noted similar tone-deaf errors by corporate accounts such as Hersheypark, underscoring reputational risks for people and brands that politicize moments of public grief.