Jeff Bezos Awards Dolly Parton $100 Million Courage and Civility Award
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The award recognizes "leaders who aim high, find solutions and who always do it with civility."
Dolly Parton was awarded a $100 million prize by Jeff Bezos on Saturday, Nov. 12.
The country music legend, who was just recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, was awarded the money on behalf of the Amazon founder and his partner, Lauren Sanchez.
The award recognizes "leaders who aim high, find solutions and who always do it with civility," Sanchez said just before she and Bezos handed over the award to Parton, which the singer may direct to the charity of her choice.
“The woman you’re about to meet embodies these ideals so thoroughly, she gives with her heart. What she’s done for kids, literacy and so many other things is just incredible," Bezos said of Parton before honoring her with the award.
"When people are in a position to help, you should help," said the country singer as she accepted the award. "And I know that I've always said I try to put my money where my heart is, and I think you do the same thing," she said as she pointed to Bezos. "I'll do my best to do good things with this money."
Bezos announced the award on Twitter on Saturday evening, writing, "We’ve just announced a new Courage and Civility award recipient — @DollyParton, who leads with her heart, and will put this $100 million award to great use helping so many people. She joins prior awardees, @VanJones68 and @Chefjoseandres. Congrats, Dolly!"
It is unclear what Parton will do with the money she received from Bezos, but in 2020, she donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Covid-19 research, which played a role in the Moderna vaccine's success, and she gifts over 1 million free books to children every month with her Imagination Library.
Parton now joins Dream Corps founder Van Jones and Spanish chef Jose Andres as a recipient of the Courage and Civility award.
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