Dolly Parton was jokingly uncharitable after the crowd at the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy ceremony tried singing along with her during her acceptance speech at Gotham Hall.
“That was terrible,” the Grammy-winning country superstar said after a muted sing-along of “Books, Books,” the song she wrote to support her Imagination Library initiative. That philanthropic program, which provides children under five a free book every month, was one of the reasons she was part of this year’s class of Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy honorees, as well as her donation to coronavirus vaccine research in 2020 that helped develop the Moderna vaccine.
