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(DC Pundit) – CNN has issued an apology after the network aired a photo of a Las Vegas Dolly Parton impersonator during a tribute segment following the country legend’s death.
The blunder unfolded during a broadcast of Laura Coates Live, roughly 12 hours after Parton’s passing. Instead of pulling one of the countless iconic images of the beloved singer, and there are hundreds of millions of moments to choose from, CNN’s crack research team somehow landed on a photo of 58-year-old Kelly Vohnn, a well-known Parton tribute performer based in Las Vegas. The internet, predictably, was not amused.
“We regret the error and apologize to the Parton family,” CNN said in a brief statement.
Vohnn, who learned of her accidental television debut the hard way, told the California Post that her phone lit up immediately. “I started getting all these texts in from friends saying that I was on CNN, and I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I was already heartbroken at losing Dolly because of how much she has given to me as a woman and an artist. But then to see these images of me on screen was just weird.”
She didn’t hold back in assessing the network’s competence either. “Somebody at CNN really messed up and didn’t do their research,” Vohnn said. “I felt so sorry and apologetic for Dolly, because over her career there are so many wonderful images and moments that they could have chosen from — and CNN just picked something not appropriate. To be clear, I have never represented myself as being Dolly ever in my life. I have always been known as a tribute act for her and many other stars.”
🚨 UPDATE: CNN was just forced to APOLOGIZE for using the wrong image of Dolly Parton after she passed away at 80 — NYP
CNN displayed this photo of a Dolly Parton impersonator, named Kelly Vohnn
“We regret the error and apologize to the Parton family."
It's always CNN. pic.twitter.com/KFGxlYhcI5
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 27, 2026
Parton’s representatives confirmed that the American icon passed away following a brief battle with cancer at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, surrounded by loved ones. “Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched,” her reps said. “Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand.”
The statement also highlighted her extraordinary philanthropic legacy, hundreds of millions of books donated through her Imagination Library, and funding for research that helped produce a life-saving vaccine used worldwide.
Her passing was announced via video by nephew Bryan Seaver, who had served as her head of security for over two decades. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father, Larry, held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now,” he said.
Parton’s health had become a concern in fall 2025, when she was forced to cancel a six-show December residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
As for CNN, anyone with half a brain and a functioning set of eyes could tell at a glance that the woman in that photo was not the real Dolly Parton. This is the kind of embarrassing, sloppy journalism that has become standard operating procedure over at CNN. Par for the course from a network that has spent years hemorrhaging credibility.
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