Dolly Parton Tribute Goes Wrong as CNN Broadcasts Photo of Impersonator Kelly Vohnn Instead of the Star

CNN has apologised to Dolly Parton's family after a tribute went wrong and the network broadcast a photo of impersonator Kelly Vohnn rather than the country star herself. The picture appeared on Laura Coates Live on Tuesday night, hours after relatives confirmed Parton had died at 80.

The channel later said it regretted the error. Vohnn, 58, said friends began telling her she was on television.

CNN Broadcasts Photo of Impersonator During Live Nashville Report

The mistake went out during the 11 p.m. ET hour of Laura Coates Live on 25 August, as correspondent Shimon Prokupecz reported from Nashville.

A montage mixed five genuine photographs of Parton with one Getty Images frame of Vohnn. That shot was taken on 16 December 2025 at a Las Vegas screening of Song Sung Blue at Brenden Theatres inside the Palms Casino Resort.

Vohnn was on the red carpet in a rhinestone white dress that closely echoed Parton's stage look. Nephew Bryan Seaver announced her death that day on her social accounts, speaking for the Parton and Owens families.

Representatives said she died at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center after a brief battle with cancer, having been admitted on 21 August.

CNN issued its statement on Thursday: 'We regret the error and apologize to the Parton family.'

The wording was given to several outlets and did not explain how the captioning failed.

Kelly Vohnn Says She Never Claimed To Be Parton

Vohnn, born in Toronto and long based in Las Vegas, has spent decades as a tribute singer, including the one-woman show Kelly Vohnn Divas.

She learned of the broadcast when messages arrived. She said she was already heartbroken at losing Parton and found the on-screen images 'just weird'.

In a later video she stressed that audiences buy tickets knowing they are seeing an impersonator and that she has never given permission for her likeness to be used as if she were Parton.

She asked newsrooms to do better due diligence. The same Getty photograph had already been used in May in coverage of Parton cancelling a second Las Vegas residency run, she said.

Friends recognised her at once. Vohnn said she thought about ringing the network but stayed at home instead. She has portrayed other stars, including Reba McEntire, and won a look-alike contest in New York in 2010.

She described the episode as embarrassing and insisted she has never represented herself as Dolly.

Recurring Image Mix-up Follows a Private Family Farewell

Parton's family has asked for a small private funeral and, in lieu of flowers, donations to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the book scheme she founded in 1995.

One local partner lists the sum $35 (£25.70) that sponsors a child for a year of titles. Libraries say the programme has gifted more than 330 million books to children aged under five.

No public memorial timetable has been set. Coverage of the CNN clip spread on Thursday as viewers compared the montage with the Getty caption. Vohnn said she does not own the images and was not involved in their selection.

By Friday morning the network had not expanded on its Thursday line. The Getty file remains labelled as Vohnn at the Palms screening.

For a performer whose living depends on looking like Dolly Parton, the CNN impersonator photograph was a reminder that picture desks still need a second look.