Dolly Parton Sets the Record Straight on ‘Body-Part Insurance’ Rumor

Since Heidi Klum helped get insured celebrity body parts back in the news, Dolly Parton was asked about her own alleged insurance policy for a body part. The country music legend, who turned 76 earlier this month, was asked about a long-standing rumor that she had an insurance policy for her breasts during a stop on Today with Hoda and Jenna. Parton settled the matter, revealing that it was “just a joke.”

“Well, it’s not true about that,” Parton told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on Wednesday. “Years ago, was it Betty Grable or one of the great famous stars that was famous also for her legs, and at the same time I said, ‘Well maybe I should get my boobs insured since I’m famous for them.’ But it was just a joke. I didn’t do that.” At the end of the interview, Parton chimed in, “By the way, you can get new boobs but you can’t get new legs.”

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The idea that Parton insured her breasts for $600,000 has been floating around the web for years and it frequently shows up on lists of insured celebrity body parts. For example, a 2006 ABC News story listed Parton’s breasts as insured, but offered no statement from the “Jolene” singer herself.

Over the years, Parton has not been shy about commenting about her breasts. While promoting Straight Talk in 1992, Parton joked about how tabloids often had contradictory headlines about them. “They’ve said everything about me through the years,” Parton said at the time, reports the Chicago Tribune. “They said I had a breast reduction just a few weeks before they… said I had breast implants the size of baseballs. And I thought: ‘Oh, good, the size of baseballs. I’m glad I got some big ones; they were only the size of watermelons before.’”

Parton reportedly had breast reduction surgery in 2004 and told fans they caused pain due to their weight. “My boobs are killing me – and I don’t know if I can stand the pain any longer,” she said at the time. “My boobs have been a trademark for me – but I’ve paid one hell of a price.” During her appearance at the Emmys alongside her 9 to 5 co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, Parton jokingly referred to her breasts as “shock” and “awe.”

The fascination with insured celebrity body parts resurfaced earlier this month when Klum spoke about her insured legs with Ellen DeGeneres. One of her clients insured her legs for over $2 million, but one leg is worth more than the other because one has a scar. One of the most famous celebrity insurance stories involves Betty Grable, as 20th Century Fox took out a $1 million insurance policy on her legs during the height of her popularity in the 1940s. In 2015, there were reports that Taylor Swift’s team explored a $40 million insurance policy for her legs before her tour that year.