Dolly Parton's Halftime Show Comes Under Fire

Dolly Parton's halftime performance during the Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving game against the Washington Commanders sparked criticism on social media, over her donation that aided COVID-19 vaccine research three years ago.

The country music legend, 77, donned a Cowboys' cheerleader outfit—including a crop top and shorts—as she performed at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for The Salvation Army's Red Kettle Kickoff Halftime Show.

Parton's set included some of her biggest hits, such as "Jolene" and "9 to 5," before she treated audiences to a cover of Queen's classic track "We Are the Champions."

However, the singer-songwriter's presence on the stage drew objections from a number of social media users, who criticized Parton for helping to fund the development of a COVID vaccine at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

The star donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, leading to the creation of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. She has since donated another $1 million to Vanderbilt for pediatric infectious disease research.

Claims that COVID-19 vaccines cause health problems or increase the chance of death are often made by groups opposed to vaccination and used in conspiracy theories concerning supposed population control.

Many anti-vaccination activists have attempted to link deaths among athletes and other notable figures to being vaccinated—especially those who otherwise appeared healthy before having a cardiac arrest. The phrase "died suddenly" has become a dog-whistle for such assertions.

With the vaccines continuing to be a divisive subject, Five Times August singer Brad Skistimas wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after Parton's performance: "Reminder @DollyParton helped fund the @moderna_tx shot, changed her famous song Jolene to 'Vaccine' and called those who wouldn't get it cowards and 'chicken squat.'"

"I get a lot of people have a soft spot for her but she's no better than the rest of the big pharma shills," the musician added.

Skistimas also shared an open letter to Parton, in which he claimed that since her donation, "a lot of people have tragically ended up severely injured from the Moderna COVID shot you helped make happen.

"Maybe you're aware of their stories, maybe you're not... but there are countless individuals worldwide [whose] lives have been ruined and will never be the same because of a misguided trust in government, big pharma companies, and influencers like you who encouraged them to get it."

"Such a disappointment," wrote one X user in response to the posts, while another said: "Did not know this but knowing she's an immoral shill obviously shifts my opinion of her."

"Dammit!" another exclaimed. "I have one of those soft spots for Dolly, and I'll still love her music (the songs!), but she now moves toward the 'don't respect' column. It's a pretty big column... but we need to know. This is cultural warfare, and silence is not an option."

"She's a Propaganda puppet. Doing what she's programmed to do. That's what she does," another charged. "Today during halftime at the circus she was tasked with invoking feelings of nationalism and 'patriotism' that is needed when your leaders are beating the ww3 war drums."

"Old Dolly, the original, would never have bought into the government sponsored mess," another chimed in. "She's just one of many paid propagandist shills now."

Newsweek has contacted a representative of Parton via email for comment.

Amid the wave of criticism, a number of X users spoke out in Parton's defense, including one who wrote: "At least Dolly Parton has done something with her life for the betterment of others. That's better than what anti-vaxxers can say."

"She can have an opinion just as you can," another fan commented in response to the detractors. "The difference is she's an amazing American that's spent countless hours and dollars helping others."

One fan called Parton a "force of kindness" for her donation, while another said: "Dolly is one of the world's most amazing humans. She's a humanitarian first & an entertainer second. She's authentic, humble, kind, smart, & very talented. In a world of [critics], be a Dolly Parton. She gave $1M to Vanderbilt for Moderna C-19 vaccine development. My Shero!"

In response to an X user calling Parton a "right-wing Madonna," a fan responded in her defense: "Dolly Parton champions LBGTQ causes, funded COVID vaccine research, her Imagination Library program—which provides monthly free books for children ages 0-5—includes books that makes the alt-right livid. Dolly Parton lives her faith daily. Nothing right wing about her."

As of this past April, approximately 366,905,365 Pfizer vaccines had been administered in the U.S., according to Statista. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describes the two mRNA vaccines—Pfizer and Moderna—as "safe and effective." The mRNA technology used to create the vaccines had been in development for more than 15 years before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, and both the Pfizer and Moderna versions received full Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

FactCheck.org, a nonprofit website that identifies misinformation in American politics, debunked the claims that COVID-19 vaccines have caused excessive deaths, as alleged by an anti-vaccine group, the Vaccine Damage Project.

Although there were "excess deaths"—a higher than expected number of mortalities across the population during a specific time period—in the U.S. in 2021 and 2022, these were linked to cases of COVID-19, along with increased deaths by drug overdose, alcohol and motor vehicle accidents. Many of the 1.3 million excess deaths from February 2021 to April 2023 were due to COVID-19, according to the CDC.

In May 2022, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican posted a screenshot on X from an FDA document that discussed adverse reactions to the Pfizer vaccine. She misinterpreted the page, suggesting that 1,223 people died after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

Although the reports confirm that 1,223 people died after vaccination, the cause of the death was not verified as being linked to the vaccine and was due to a number of reasons, with no "novel safety concerns or risks requiring label changes" found, according to the document.

On November 3, the FDA defended Pfizer against accusations that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was "contaminated."

A representative told Newsweek: "With over a billion doses of the mRNA vaccines administered, no safety concerns related to the sequence of, or amount of, residual DNA have been identified."