Dolly Parton weighs in on Britney Spears’ conservatorship battle: ‘I went through a lot of that myself’

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Dolly Parton is sharing her thoughts on Britney Spears's controversial conservatorship.

Asked about the pop star's public battle on Watch What Happens Live, Parton told Andy Cohen, "Well, I try to not get involved in other people's business. I think she is a wonderful artist and I think she's a wonderful girl. And I only wish her the best."

That said, Parton, 75, noted, "I understand all those crazy things. I went through a lot of that myself, referring to her fighting a lawsuit from her music partner Porter Wagoner "in my early days ... trying to get out on my own. So I understand where she's coming from and how she feels."

She ended her thoughts on the battle that set off the #FreeBritney movement by saying, "I hope that all turns out the way that it should."

During Parton's rise to fame, she partnered with Wagoner, a well-known country singer and TV host, and when she separated from him to strike out on her own, it led to a very public, six-year legal battle. He sued her for $3 million for breach of contract and they eventually settled out of court.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 14: Corey Baily, 33, of DC holds a flag as he and other supporters of pop star Britney Spears participates in a #FreeBritney rally near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The #FreeBritney movement has shed light on the conservatorship Britney Spears has been held in for 13 years. (Photo: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Spears has been in a conservatorship, with her father Jamie at the helm, since 2008. Since last fall, she's been legally trying to remove him from his role, and things exploded in June when she broke her silence in court in June, accusing him of conservatorship abuse. (He's maintained that he's always acted in his daughter's best interests.)

On Monday, Spears's new attorney officially petitioned to have Jamie removed as conservator, and that is something backed by the star's own doctors, new legal documents filed in the case this week show.

During Parton's WWHL interview, she also revealed that she used royalties earned from Whitney Houston's epic rendition of her song "I Will Always Love You" — which was written about her split from Wagoner — to support a Black neighborhood (see below):