CNN apologized to Dolly Parton’s family after mistakenly displaying a photo of impersonator Kelly Vohnn while covering Parton’s death.
The country icon died Tuesday at 80. About 12 hours after Parton’s nephew announced her death on Instagram, CNN’s Laura Coates Live aired a tribute segment rife with photographs of Parton throughout her career. The problem? One of the images wasn’t Parton at all, but longtime Parton impersonator Vohnn, 58.
CNN issued an apology Thursday, writing, “We regret the error and apologize to the Parton family.”
“I started getting all these texts in from friends saying that I was on CNN, and I couldn’t believe it,” Vohnn told the New York Post. “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.”
Vohnn said the photo was from December, when she appeared on the red carpet at a Las Vegas screening of the movie Song Sung Blue, for which Kate Hudson received a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Vohnn, a country singer herself, slammed the network for the “embarrassing” mistake.
“Somebody at CNN really messed up and didn’t do their research,” she 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.”
Vohnn said Parton was “a real force” in her life, helping her through “the lowest and highest moments.” She was overcome with sadness upon hearing of Parton’s death, so though she considered contacting CNN herself, she ultimately decided against it.
“I thought about calling CNN, but was really consumed by the grief of losing Dolly,” she said. “I just wanted to be at home with my thoughts, raising a glass of wine to that brilliant woman.”
