Viral Rumor Debunked: Dolly Parton Did Not Become Guardian of Abandoned Newborn

In late May 2025, social media was swept up in a heartwarming yet entirely false rumor: that country music icon Dolly Parton had become the legal guardian of a newborn baby abandoned outside a Nashville hospital, vowing to cover all the child’s living expenses until adulthood.

The story, which originated from viral Facebook posts and was further amplified by websites like news.hotnewsfandom.com and newstoday.icusocial.com, painted a dramatic scene. According to these posts, a helpless baby—wrapped only in a thin blanket—was discovered outside a hospital, with no one to claim her. The posts claimed that, in a stunning act of compassion, Dolly Parton stepped forward to care for the child, pledging to provide for her until she turned 18.

These posts quickly went viral, racking up tens of thousands of reactions, comments, and shares across Facebook, Threads, and X. Accompanying the claims were images purportedly showing Parton cradling the newborn, further fueling the story’s spread.

However, a closer look reveals that the story is nothing more than a viral hoax. No credible news outlets have reported on the alleged incident, and there are no statements from Parton or her representatives confirming such an extraordinary act. In fact, the only sources for the claim are social media posts and dubious websites with no journalistic credibility.

Further investigation shows that the images circulating with the story were generated using artificial intelligence. Experts and AI-detection tools, such as Hive, have confirmed with near certainty that the photos of Parton holding the baby are not real, but rather the product of digital manipulation—evident in the unnatural skin textures and inconsistent lighting.

The rumor may have been loosely inspired by a real story Dolly Parton has shared in interviews about discovering an abandoned baby, but at no point did she become the child’s guardian.

This isn’t the first time such a story has gone viral. Just months earlier, a nearly identical rumor falsely claimed that tech billionaire Elon Musk had become the guardian of an abandoned newborn. As with the Parton story, the Musk rumor was accompanied by AI-generated images and lacked any credible evidence.

In an age where heartwarming stories can spread like wildfire online, it’s important to remember that not everything we read is true—especially when the only “evidence” comes from manipulated images and unverified sources. As of now, there is no truth to the claim that Dolly Parton became the legal guardian of an abandoned newborn in May 2025.

We have reached out to Dolly Parton’s representatives for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.