Clip Of Dolly Parton Defending Jessica Simpson From Perez Hilton Resurfaces—And Fans Are Applauding

Perhaps nobody in the entertainment industry will be missed quite as much as Dolly Parton, who passed away August 25 at 80 years old.

And as fans mourn her, myriad clips of her public statements have gone viral, all of them showing what a kind, loving, generous person she was.

Case in point, an old clip from 2008 of Parton talking to notorious gossip blogger Perez Hilton in which she pushed back good and hard as Hilton tried to get her to insult Jessica Simpson.

Suffice to say, Parton didn't take the bait, because unlike most of Hollywood, she never had it in her to display the kind of cruelty that was Hilton's bread and butter.

The clip, which aired on VH1, came two years after an incident at the Kennedy Center Honors in which Simpson covered Parton's iconic song "9 to 5."

The performance became a viral moment in a time before that phrase existed after Simpson abruptly ran off stage in the middle of the song because she forgot the words.

Mass mockery ensued, partly led by Hilton himself, who built an empire in the 2000s on cruelly and viciously making fun of celebrities. Simpson in particular was a favorite pop-cultural punching bag at the time.

So when Hilton sat down with Parton, he obviously expected the music legend to join him in dragging Simpson. But she was having none of it.

When Hilton asked, “She sucked, didn’t she?” Dolly quickly shot back, “No, she didn’t, now! She did not!”

Hilton then tried to chide her for not being "honest," but Parton stuck to her guns.

"I am honest! I thought they treated her terrible. She sang ‘9 to 5,’ and that song has so many words..."

"...She just messed up a little place. I thought she was just doing it on purpose, I swear! But she ran off the stage; she was nervous.”

When Hilton countered that Simpson got to have a second try at the song and "still sucked," Parton replied that many people at the event got to redo their songs, but nobody made a story out of it.

And then she gave Hilton a final warning:

"Now, don’t you get on my bad side!”

Queen behavior. And on social media, people applauded Parton for handling Hilton's cruelty so deftly and kindly.

People on Reddit agreed too, with many praising how kind and classy Parton always was.

"A true gals gal 😭 there will never be another like Dolly. I truly think she was the best this world has ever had to offer." —u/sasshley_

"It takes a real talent to put someone in their place so pleasantly and have them beaming at you the entire time you're doing it." —u/maladro1t

" He was so hoping for a little teehee 🤭 moment at Jessica Simpson’s expense but he should have known she’d never be nasty! How smug and condescending he was and how graceful and kind she was." —u/ouijabore

Parton's kindness will always be as big a legacy as her musical genius. Something the HIltons of the world could learn from...