‘Jew lover’ – Antisemitic online vandals target Dolly Parton’s Wikipedia page after her death

Actress and country singer Dolly Parton faces posthumous online smear campaign beginning just hours after her death, with neo-Nazi material uploaded to her Wikipedia page.

By World Israel News Staff

Dolly Parton’s Wikipedia page was vandalized with antisemitic material, a Nazi swastika and praise for the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook school massacre shortly after the country music legend’s death was announced Tuesday.

Screenshots circulated online showed Parton’s main Wikipedia image replaced with a flag bearing a swastika, while her name was changed to the antisemitic phrase “Jew lover.” Another alteration added a message declaring that Adam Lanza, who murdered 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, “was a hero.”

The vandalism appeared within roughly an hour of the public announcement that Parton had died at age 80. The offensive material was removed shortly afterward as Wikipedia editors restored the page.

Wikipedia’s own administrative records confirm that several revisions of Parton’s page were subsequently hidden from public view on August 25. One revision was suppressed because it contained “grossly insulting, degrading, or offensive material,” while seven additional revisions were later hidden over what the site classified as “serious BLP violations.”

An archived link associated with one of the vandalized versions now produces an error stating that the revision “has been removed from the public archives.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism condemned the incident Wednesday, calling the vandalism “depraved.”

“These vile edits are no longer there, but the idea that someone would choose to exploit her death to spread antisemitic abuse is utterly despicable,” the organization said.

While some social media users described the incident as a hack, there is no indication that Wikipedia’s systems were breached. Wikipedia is designed to allow users to edit most articles, making prominent pages occasional targets for vandalism, particularly during breaking news events when readership and editing activity surge.

The attack came as fans and public figures around the world mourned Parton, whose family announced her death on Tuesday. Her representatives later confirmed that she died following a brief battle with cancer.

Parton’s nephew Brian Seaver, who announced her death in a video posted to her Instagram account, described making the announcement as “an honour mixed with absolute pride and great sadness.” He said Parton had asked him years earlier to deliver the news when the time came.

Parton, born in Tennessee in 1946, became one of the most recognizable figures in American music during a career spanning seven decades. Her songs included “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You,” and her career extended into film, television, business and philanthropy.

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Tuesday ordering US flags at the White House, federal buildings, military installations and US diplomatic facilities overseas to be flown at half-staff through sunset on September 1 in Parton’s honor.

The antisemitic alterations were no longer visible on Parton’s Wikipedia page Wednesday, and some of the offending revisions had been removed from the publicly accessible revision history altogether.