The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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Ricky Schroder breaks celebrity tribute rules for Dolly Parton — and the outrage machine EXPLODES

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BS BULLETIN:

  • Ricky Schroder’s Dolly Parton tribute acknowledged their disagreements over transgender issues and COVID vaccines.
  • Katie Couric responded “Ick,” while Boy George told Schroder to “shut up.”
  • Schroder didn’t retreat — he doubled down with another post saying he had warned Dolly about supporting the vaccine.

Actor Ricky Schroder has apparently committed a serious celebrity sin: He admitted that you can love somebody while disagreeing with them.

Schroder, who played Dolly Parton’s father in two television movies based on the country legend’s childhood, posted a tribute following Parton’s death Tuesday at age 80.

“I didn’t agree with her advocating for Transgender & Covid Vaccine support…but Loved her anyway,” Schroder wrote. “Thank you for choosing me Dolly to be your Movie Daddy.”

And boy, did THAT go over well.

The post immediately generated outrage because Schroder dared to mention political and cultural disagreements while memorializing Parton.

Katie Couric responded with a succinct “Ick.”

Boy George went with “Oh shut up.” Actor Jay Huguley called “I loved her anyway” a “strange tribute,” while the band Garbage offered Schroder an even less printable two-word response.

Schroder, 56, worked closely enough with Parton to portray her father, Robert Lee Parton, in NBC’s 2015 “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” and its 2016 sequel, “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love.” Parton narrated and executive-produced the movies herself.

But Schroder’s original tribute wasn’t the end of this. After the backlash started rolling in, he doubled down, reportedly posting an old video of Parton promoting COVID vaccination to his Instagram Stories and wrote: “I warned Dolly to not support the Experiment. Wished she listened.”

That pretty much eliminated any possibility that Schroder was going to issue the obligatory Hollywood apology. Parton was an outspoken supporter of COVID vaccination. She donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for coronavirus research in 2020, funding that helped support research connected to Moderna’s vaccine.

When Parton received the Moderna shot herself in 2021, she famously reworked “Jolene” into a little vaccine ditty encouraging others to get vaccinated. She also had a long history of supporting the LGBT community and spoke publicly against judging people for being different.

Schroder has traveled a considerably different political road. The former “Silver Spoons” and “NYPD Blue” star has become increasingly outspoken about his conservative views in recent years.

Headlines are describing Schroder’s words as “foul,” “tone deaf,” “disrespectful,” “transphobic” and “anti-vaccine.”

MY QUICK TAKE:

Would I have brought up disagreements about vaccines and transgender issues in a tribute immediately after Dolly Parton died? Probably not.

But I find the reaction almost more revealing than the original post. Schroder didn’t say he hated Dolly because she disagreed with him. He said he loved her anyway. Isn’t that precisely what we’re constantly told America needs more of?

And Ricky? I suspect Katie Couric’s “Ick” isn’t going to scare him into hiding.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

 

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