Joy Behar, who one year ago called a woman a b*** for being denied the first-class lounge and “reduced to coach,” blasted Dolly Parton’s famous Jolene song as “anti-feminist.”
In addition to taking shots at the classic hit from 1973, the co-host of The View praised Beyoncé’s iteration of the same song, which reminds the fictional character of Jolene “you don’t want no heat with me.”In April 2023, after returning from a two-week vacation in Italy, long-time panelist of The View returned to the show, inadvertently sharing an anti-feminist comment she made to a woman while there.
“The people are nice, here and there. I had to call one woman the b-word, but that’s something else,” the 81-year-old told her co-hosts. After Whoopi Goldberg asked if she voiced her complaints in English or Italian, Behar said, “I said it in English because she wouldn’t let me pee in the first-class lounge. I said, ‘Please, let me just go!’ I said, ‘Listen, don’t be a bitch.’ She wouldn’t let me go.”
Though Behar didn’t clarify if she was on a plane or a train, she did complain that she was “reduced to coach.”
A warning not a plea
In April 2024, the opinionated Behar went after the much-loved country music song, Jolene by the beloved 78-year-old Dolly Parton, saying the song’s lyrics suggest anti-feminism.
First crediting herself as the person “that made Dolly Parton admit she was a feminist,” Behar next compares the legendary song to Beyoncé’s recent reinterpretation of Jolene, on her album Cowboy Carter.While both versions of the song are about dealing with the threat of infidelity, Parton pleads Jolene not to take her man and Beyoncé reminds Jolene “you don’t want no heat with me.”
And, instead of “I’m begging of you, please don’t take my man” the Houston native sings: “I’m warnin’ you, woman, find you your own man.”
“I like the subject of Beyoncé taking over the lyrics,” Behar told The View producer Brian Teta on an episode of the Behind the Table podcast. “Because the original thing with Dolly Parton is so, like, anti-feminist, worrying about some good-looking woman taking your man. If it’s so easy to take your man, then take him.”
She adds, “Beyoncé says, if you take my man, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble. I say, go ahead, take my man. Take him.”
Behar’s comments about the iconic song sent fans spiralling.
“Who is Joy Behar, I have never heard of her, oh I have heard of Dolly Parton and I like her very much…I personally don’t like most Country Music, but Dolly’s Jolene song is one of the one’s I do like,” writes one netizen.
A second shares, “Beyoncé needs to stay in her lane!…Dolly is a class act and a wonderful and kind caring human being!! Joy needs to retire!!!”
“I love Dolly Parton and her music. Joy Behar can go fly a kite, she doesn’t know what she is talking about,” snipes a third.
Referencing Behar’s ‘anti-feminist’ comments, another writes, “I’m anti joy behar! Anybody else?”
Dolly’s interlude
Beyoncé’s release wasn’t intended to start a war between the two icons.
In fact, Beyoncé’s Jolene is introduced by Parton herself in a short interlude.
“Hey, Miss Honeybee, it’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sang about reminded me of someone I knew back when,” Parton says with her loveable southern twang. “Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
And when Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” dropped, the country music legend shared her enthusiasm for the release of Jolene with an Instagram post.
She writes, “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”
Beyoncé or Dolly?
Fans are divided over the two versions, some suggesting Beyoncé’s lyrics are too aggressive.
“[The] original version has class, intelligence and subtlety. It’s aggression,” writes one person.
A second netizen quips, “Jolene flirted with the wrong man in 1973 and hasn’t known peace since.”
A third, agreeing with Behar’s sentiments, writes, “I quite love this version because who begs a woman not to take their man [because] she can?? Unrelatable to a lot of people…Beyoncé’s entire brand is about strong women. They are both phenomenal in my opinion.”
Meanwhile, some people are still reeling over Queen Bey crossing into the country music genre.
“Beyoncé needs to STOP and go back to her own music style…country music fans don’t want her!”
What are your thoughts on the new Jolene?
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