In late May 2025, a viral rumor circulated on social media claiming that singer Dolly Parton became a legal guardian of a newborn baby who was abandoned just five hours earlier. According to the posts, Parton pledged to raise the child and cover all expenses until adulthood.
One Facebook post (archived) with the claim reached over 29,000 reactions, 4,800 comments and 2,000 shares by the time of this writing.
The post read:
TOUCHING: A newborn baby was abandoned just five hours ago. In the face of this heartbreaking situation, Dolly Parton of country musician stepped in to become the child's guardian, pledging to cover all living expenses until the child turns 18A newborn baby was discovered abandoned just five hours ago outside a small hospital in Nashville, Tennessee—wrapped only in a thin blanket, with no note, no name, and no one to claim her. But while the world reacted with shock and sorrow, one woman stepped forward with unconditional love and incredible generosity
The post redirected to an article on the website news.hotnewsfandom.com that further elaborated on the story. The article began, "In a heart-wrenching turn of events, a newborn baby was discovered abandoned just five hours ago outside a small hospital in Nashville, Tennessee—wrapped only in a thin blanket, with no note, no name, and no one to claim her."
Another Facebook post (archived) with the rumor, which gained over 92,000 reactions, 8,600 comments and 7,400 shares, also redirected to the same article published on another website, newstoday.icusocial.com.
Similar claims spread on social media platforms including Facebook, Threads and X.
However, there was no truth to this story. The claim that Parton became the legal guardian of an abandoned newborn in May 2025 was not supported by any credible evidence. No legitimate news outlets reported the alleged incident, and the story existed solely in social media posts and questionable websites. The story was also not corroborated by any statements from Parton or her representatives. Furthermore, it spread alongside photos of Parton with the alleged newborn created using artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, we've rated the claim false.
That said, the story may have drawn loose inspiration from a story about finding an abandoned infant that Parton has told in multiple interviews, as we'll explain in more detail below. That story did not involve Parton becoming the baby's guardian.
We have reached out to Parton's representatives for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
A nearly identical false story that circulated online in March and April 2025 alleged that tech billionaire Elon Musk became the legal guardian of an abandoned newborn and committed to covering the child's expenses. As with the Parton rumor, the story was not supported by any credible sources and was spread alongside AI-generated images.
Dolly Parton pics are AI-generated
Google searches using various combinations of relevant keywords such as "Dolly Parton," "guardian" and "abandoned baby" produced no relevant results. Additionally, the collage of images purporting to show Parton holding a newborn displayed several visual anomalies commonly associated with AI-generated content, such as unnaturally smooth skin texture and inconsistencies in lighting and shadows.
An analysis using Hive, an AI-detection platform, concluded with 100% certainty that the images were "likely to be AI-generated."
(Facebook user NCIS Daily News, Hive)
Origin of the rumor
The origin of the rumor may lie in a real — but unrelated — story Parton shared in past interviews. In 2011, during an interview with Windy City Times, Parton recalled a story from the 1970s, around the time her hit song "Jolene" was released. Parton explained that she returned home one day and found a baby in a box at her gate. The note attached to the baby read, "My name is Jolene, my momma has left me here and she wants you to have me." Parton described how she immediately called human services, who took custody of the child, adding that she never found out what happened afterward and had no further involvement with the case.
Below is the relevant part of the interview:
Windy City Times: [...] What is the craziest thing a fan has ever asked of you?
Dolly Parton: There are all kinds of things that people ask me to do but I tell this story and it's a true story but freaky. Years ago when I first started being a big star I had fans that were fanatical. It was when "Jolene" was a big hit. We came home one day and there was a baby in a box at our gate with a note in it. The note said, "My name is Jolene, my momma has left me here and she wants you to have me." Of course, we all freaked out!
We immediately called Human Services and took care of the baby until they got there. We never did know or hear anything about it. I knew nothing else. [...]
Parton elaborated on how disturbing the situation had been for her and emphasized her efforts to distance herself from any further involvement:
Dolly Parton: Can you imagine yourself in that situation? It wasn't like it was a kitten or a puppy dog. It was a baby named Jolene!
Windy City Times: Well, maybe Jolene will be coming to your concert.
Dolly Parton: I have often wondered that. I don't think that person would ever even know about the way that went down. There was no way to track it and I didn't want to. I couldn't take the bay [sic] and I didn't want to be involved. I wanted the police and the people involved to know we had nothing to do with it. We just made our statement but to answer your question that was the wildest thing.
Parton retold the same story in an interview with Larry King, offering additional details.
She said that at the time, she thought someone had left food at the gate, only to find a baby in a basket. Parton explained that she went straight to the house and asked someone to call child services and the police. Authorities later arrived and took custody of the baby, and Parton never learned what happened to the child.
This real event, however, had no connection to the rumor that spread in May 2025. It appears that the old story may have served as loose inspiration for the fabricated one, which took Parton's previous experience and reshaped it into a viral rumor with the use of AI-generated images.
It's not the first time we fact-checked a rumor involving Parton. For instance, in early March 2025, we investigated whether Parton once said, "I've got transgender people. I've got gays. I've got lesbians. I've got drunks. I've got drug addicts — all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge," and in June 2024 we examined a photograph allegedly showing Parton without her signature makeup.