Joy Behar, who once called a woman a harsh word for not getting into the first-class lounge and being “reduced to coach,” criticized Dolly Parton’s famous song “Jolene” as “anti-feminist.”
Instead of liking the classic song from 1973, the co-host of The View liked Beyoncé’s version, where she tells the character of Jolene, “you don’t want no heat with me.”
Keep reading to find out what Behar thinks about the song “Jolene”!
In April 2023, after coming back from a two-week vacation in Italy, the long-time panelist of The View returned to the show, accidentally sharing a comment she made to a woman in Italy that wasn’t supportive of feminism.
“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.”
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.
Both versions of the song are about dealing with the threat of someone stealing a partner. Dolly Parton pleads with Jolene not to take her man, while Beyoncé warns Jolene, saying “you don’t want no heat with me.”
Instead of saying, “I’m begging of you, please don’t take my man,” Beyoncé 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 caused a stir among fans.
“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.
Another person says, “Beyoncé should stick to what she knows! Dolly is a great person and a wonderful singer! Joy should just retire!”
“I adore Dolly Parton and her music. Joy Behar should stop talking, she doesn’t know what she’s saying,” adds someone else.
Referring to Behar’s ‘anti-feminist’ remarks, another comment reads, “I’m against Joy Behar! Anyone else?”
Beyoncé’s version of “Jolene” wasn’t meant to cause a feud between the two singers.
In fact, Dolly Parton herself introduces Beyoncé’s version 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 lovely southern accent. “Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
She writes, “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”
Fans are divided over the two versions, some suggesting Beyoncé’s lyrics are too aggressive.