The country music legend Dolly Parton famously posed for the cover of Playboy Magazine back in 1978. Now, it’s been revealed that Parton altered her iconic Playboy outfit in a big way out of respect for her religious fans.
Parton Altered Playboy Outfit For ‘Bible-Totin’ Fans
Lawrence Grobel, the famed celebrity interviewer, spoke to Parton for her Playboy Magazine cover story 47 years ago. He recently shared his diary entries from their interview with Vanity Fair. In these excerpts, he explained Parton and her team’s thought process when it came to agreeing to pose for Playboy in the first place.
“Her manager, Sandy Gallin, told her that Playboy is the classiest magazine to do an interview,” he wrote. “But there are some Bible-totin’ folks who are her fans and that concerns her. She’ll pose for the cover if the bunny costume can be altered so the crotch can be lowered and she doesn’t reveal too much boob.”
In his diaries, Gallin described Parton as being “funny, charming” and “disarming.” He also wrote that it was “easy to talk to her,” but “difficult to interrupt.”” He also wrote that she”
Gallin additionally wrote that Parton “has no trouble talking about anything, though when I asked her how old she was when she lost her virginity, she said if she told me, people would think she was perverted.”
Related: Dolly Parton Wants To Be On The Cover Of Playboy For 75th Birthday
Parton Was ‘Afraid’ To Pose For Playboy
In the original 1978 interview, Parton opened up about her initial concerns when it came to posing for Playboy.
“I was afraid at first, when we talked about it,” she said at the time. “I didn’t want to be naked or something on the front of a magazine unless everybody knew it was a joke.”
Parton went on to say that she “wouldn’t want to be naked even then. It might not offend me, but I was afraid maybe a lot of my country fans and some of the people who love me who are of a religious nature might not understand.”
Parton then said that people would “make jokes and things, not because of my beauty but just because of that physical thing that’s built around my boobs.”
This is what made her question taking part in this shoot at all. However, she quickly decided against backing out of doing it altogether.
“Then I thought, it isn’t something I should be ashamed of,” Parton explained. “Playboy’s a real classy magazine. And I mean, who else but Dolly Parton should be on the cover of Playboy? If you wanted an outrageous person to be an outrageous magazine cover, who else? I just hope people will take it in the spirit in which I did it—you know, something cute and off-the-wall for me.”
Parton Reflects On Playboy Cover Decades Later
Last year, Parton opened up about her Playboy cover in an interview with Business Insider. She said that while she was “comfortable” with the photo shoot she did, she also “was not going to do any of the layouts, the nudity and all that.”
“I always have to feel in my gut what I can and can’t do, what I will and won’t do,” Parton explained in the 2024 interview. “And I was never going to do the spreads, if you pardon the expression.”
One person who “always loved” her Playboy cover was her late husband Carl Dean. He tragically died back in March at the age of 82. A few years before his death, Parton recreated her iconic Playboy look for Dean’s his 79th birthday. Check that out for yourself below.
Full Story: Flashback: Dolly Parton Surprised Her Late Husband Carl Dean By Recreating Her Iconic 1978 Playboy Cover
Parton has shown time and again over the years that she’s a true class act. That’s why it comes as no surprise that she would alter her Playboy outfit out of respect for her religious fans. In the end, Parton’s Playboy photoshoot will go down in history as one of the magazine’s best covers ever.
God bless you, Dolly Parton!
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