ELLE King has opened up for the first time since her drunk performance at Dolly Parton’s 78th birthday celebration.
The singer recently appeared on Chelsea Handler‘s podcast, where she revealed why it had taken her months to speak about the situation.
Elle, 34, memorably told the crowd that she was drunk while performing at Dolly’s birthday concert at the Grand Ole Opry.
The country singer immediately received backlash online, with many saying her actions were unprofessional and disrespectful.
“I haven’t spoken about it, because, one, I had to just chill. It was a big deal,” Elle told Chelsea.
“I had been going through something very heavy and traumatic in my life at the time.
“And that day was a really big day dealing with what I was going through, and that I’m still going through, and I suffer from severe PTSD.”
She said she hadn’t eaten or slept the day of the performance and felt like “a shell of herself.”
Elle then explained how she was told last minute that she would be headlining the show, which started out “f**king perfect.”
However, after “one shot too many,” she knew she was “not there in her body.”
After the show, Elle admitted that she sobbed on the floor of her dressing room.
The singer then said she was “mortified” as clips from the moment she told the crowd she was intoxicated had circulated the next day.
Despite receiving backlash on social media, she said Dolly called her shortly after the performance with nothing but “kind words.”
“Dolly’s not mad at you, why should the world be?” the country legend told Elle over the phone.
After days had passed, the singer said she had to” remove herself from the population for a while,” since the backlash had not eased up.
“Regardless of what I was doing in my life and what was happening to me, I don’t feel like I owe to anybody in the f**king world to try and explain,” she continued.
“I also don’t think that it does excuse the fact that, maybe I shouldn’t have f**king been drinking.”
She then apologized to those who were offended by her actions at the performance.
“This is a sacred stage and I f**ked up.
“So, for all the people who are asking for an apology from me, hey, if you were there that night and I didn’t get a chance to say I’m sorry to you, I apologize.”
Elle also wrote personal, hand-written letters apologizing to both Dolly and the Grand Ole Opry after the January show.