Oprah Winfrey Defended After Controversial Dolly Parton Interview Unearthed

A resurfaced 2003 interview between Oprah Winfrey and country legend Dolly Parton has sparked plenty of chatter and controversy on social media. While many of Parton's fans have viewed the interview in a negative light, slamming Winfrey online for being inappropriate and far too invasive, others have a much different outlook on the conversation, sparking some to voice their defense of the media mogul.

Initially shared to TikTok, where it garnered more than 2.5 million views, and later making its way to Twitter, the interview, which aired shortly after Parton released her tribute album Just Because I'm A Woman, begins with Winfrey questioning Parton on her history of plastic surgery. In the brief clip, Winfrey could be heard asking Parton how she was managing to "defy age," with Parton joking that she is "a cartoon" before Winfrey pushed, "No, but you've been open about how you've had some work done." After Parton said she has had "some tucks and pulls and sucks, and I'll have some more when I need 'em," a second clip from the same interview spurred even more controversy as it saw Winfrey bringing Parton's mental health into the discussion as she asked her if she "went into a huge depression" in her 40s. Parton, however, exclaimed her past struggles with her mental health were not related to her age, but rather "because I was fat and 40. I really had a lot of problems during that time, a lot of female problems. Just hormones and it just wasn't just a depression thing. Just changing around. But I'm ok now."

The interview has proven to be pretty controversial online, and while some have slammed Winfrey for what they view as invasive questioning, others have come to her defense. On Twitter, where the clips have been met with the most controversy, some social media users have hit back against claims that Winfrey was invasive with her questioning and have noted that Winfrey has interviewed Parton multiple times since that 2003 clip, suggesting there is no bad blood between them. Keep scrolling to see what people are saying.