Dolly Parton’s sister Stella has branded Elle King a ‘hillbilly’ after her disastrous birthday tribute to her elder sibling. 

Elle caused quite the furore last week when she appeared ‘hammered’ while paying tribute to country pop legend Dolly.

The singer, 34, who is the daughter of Rob Schneider – performed at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry show in the Ryman Auditorium for the singer’s 78th birthday – though the country legend herself wasn’t in attendance.

Elle was slurring her words and using profanities, including the F-word multiple times during the set, which was broadcast on January 19.

Yet Stella surprisingly stood up for Elle as she pointed out that there hasn’t been nearly as much outrage when male performers have done similar, though she couldn’t resist branding the singer a ‘hillbilly.’

Dolly Parton’s sister Stella has branded Elle King (pictured) a ‘hillbilly’ after her disastrous birthday tribute to her elder sibling

Stella (pictured in 2014) surprisingly stood up for Elle as she pointed out that there hasn’t been nearly as much outrage when male performers have done similar

Elle King celebrates Dolly Parton’s bday with ‘drunk’ performance

Addressing the incident with her 140,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, she shared: ‘I didn’t see nor hear the Grand Ole Opry birthday tribute to my big sister Dolly over the weekend.

‘But some lil girl by the name of Elle King apparently cussed and insulted some of Dolly’s fans by not knowing a song. She did admit to being “hammered” her words not mine.

‘But let me just say this, it wouldn’t be the first time a Hillbilly went on the stage of the Opry “hammered” but I guess it’s ok if you’re a male but good lord don’t ever let a girl behave that way folks!

‘Double f****** standard if ya ask me. So the Opry is apologizing! Lol’.

The Ryman Auditorium recently issued an apology for Elle’s set which was a part of the Opry Goes Dolly show.

They shared: ‘We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.’

A viral clip shared to TikTok shows Elle singing at the Opry Goes Dolly show captioned: ‘I think Elle King just ended her career.

‘I can’t imagine disrespecting Dolly at the @Grand Ole Opry on Dolly’s birthday. I hope Elle gets the help she needs cause this does not pass the vibe check’.

Fans were divided after watching the clip, uploaded by @auctioneergirl which showed Elle attempting Dolly’s song Marry Me, when she seemed to forget the lyrics.

Stella surprisingly stood up for Elle despite the fact she ‘ruined’ her sister’s birthday tribute, although though she couldn’t resist branding the singer a ‘hillbilly’ (Stella and Dolly pictured in 2015)

Stella shared ‘It wouldn’t be the first time a Hillbilly went on the stage of the Opry “hammered” but I guess it’s ok if you’re a male but good lord don’t ever let a girl behave that way folks!’

Instead, she shamelessly sung, ‘I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this f***ing town… Don’t tell Dolly ‘cause it’s her birthday’.

Unafraid to antagonize fans, Elle said, ‘You spent money for this s**t?’ shortly before admitting she was inebriated.

She continued: ‘You ain’t getting your money back. I’ll tell you one thing more: “Hi, my name is Elle King [and] I’m f****** hammered”.’

One enraged fan said: ‘She needs to be banned from The Ryman Auditorium and publicly apologize to Dolly Parton‘, while another was struggling to identify her: ‘I gotta Google who this lady is…’

A different user was also left baffled by the outrage: ‘I’ve watched this 3 times and I still can’t figure out what she did wrong! Someone tell me, I don’t know anything about country music!’

Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry show is credited as having given country music mainstream success.

The Opry Goes Dolly show also featured Ashley Monroe, Tigirlily Gold, Dailey & Vincent and Terri Clark, with fans blasting King on social media.

A country fan explained: ‘For those wondering, the Grand Ole Opry is a LIVE radio show, the regular radio DJs can’t curse, neither can the performers. That, plus it was a Dolly Parton tribute and she forgot half the lyrics’.

But one user felt the Jolene singer would be unaffected by King’s drunk performance: ‘Let me tell you one thing. Dolly is one sweet lady and she ain’t gonna care about someone a little drunk on stage’.

Ellecaused quite the furor among fans at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday, when she appeared ‘hammered’ during a performance

While some TikTok users weren’t aware of the nuance that came with performing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, others explained Elle’s grave error