I think Dolly Parton is one of those few “universally beloved” celebrities. She made very, very few enemies throughout her career, and in interviews, Dolly just seems like the epitome of grace and class. But we should also remember that she IS a country star and she lives in a part of the country that is deeply Republican. Recent, Blake Shelton seemed to pander and talk around the fact that he’s a Donald Trump supporter as a way of appeasing his “mainstream” fans. I think Dolly is doing the opposite – I think she’s voting for Hillary Clinton but she can’t say it because her country fans would feel alienated. That’s what I’m getting from this interview with ABC (she’s promoting her new album, Pure & Simple). Some highlights:

Why ‘9 to 5′ was an important movie: “It really touched on a really serious subject at the time. It was based on a company, a group called 9 to 5 and it was about women trying to get equal pay for equal work, so that really addressed that at the time. It still speaks to what’s going on today — we have come a long way as women. We’ve got Hillary Clinton almost in the White House, or could be. But the fact that she could be the first woman president, whether it’s her or not, somewhere down the road there’s going to be one. We’ve come far, but still have a long way to go. So I think that 9 to 5 is still just a fun thing for many reasons, and a good thing for many reasons.”

She hasn’t decided how she’ll vote: “At this time there’s so much craziness going on with the race I haven’t even decided yet how I’m going to vote. There’s just a lot of craziness going on. But whoever it is, we’ll all have to work together and be supportive of them. Whether it’s Hillary or whether it’s Donald Trump.”

Her LGBTQ fans: “I’m so outspoken about believing people should be who and how they are and be allowed to be happy and love who they please. With my gay and lesbian fans, I think they appreciate the fact that I’m just an accepting person. I try not to be judgemental.”

[From ABC News]

I think she’s decided who she will vote for and she just isn’t going to say. Which is totally her right – we’re not “owed” a celebrity’s political thoughts or political identification. She’s going to alienate people either way, so why not just play coy? And she managed to do it in a way that didn’t aggravate people either, unlike Blake Shelton, who made it sound like Donald Trump is a hero for showing white heterosexual men that they don’t have to be so afraid of saying bigoted sh-t.

Photos courtesy of WENN.