Dolly Parton vs. U.S. Senator Story Takes A Strange Turn

The story reported yesterday by the country western THE BOOT news, took a very strange turn today, as the office of U.S. Senator Bob Corker now claims that the interview of Dolly Parton by WAXO1220AM (Kickin' Country) never took place. Spokesperson for Corker's office, Laura Herzog claimed that the senator's office had checked with the radio station as well as Dolly Parton's representatives, claiming that Dolly Parton wasn't on that station in an interview segment.

Herzog also claimed that it was "categorically false" that the senator carved out any exemption clause for payday loan companies. However, THE NEW YORK TIMES reports just the opposite to be true, claiming that Corker was indeed the driving force to exempt payday loan companies from proposed new consumer law legislation. Further, W. Allan Jones, who owns Checks Into Cash has been a longtime friend and political supporter of Corker. Since 2001, Corker has received $31,000 in political contributions from Jones and other employees of the business.

So far, no official statement has come from Dolly Parton or WAXO radio about the claimed interview. And according to one source, military families are already protected somewhat from higher interest rates by payday loan companies, which are capped at 36% under provisions of the Federal Military Lending Act of 2007.

So, who's telling the truth here? Did Dolly Parton actually do a radio interview tearing into the senator or not yesterday? Why did Corker's office misrepresent his actual involvement and support for provisions exempting the payday loan industry?

A strange entertainment news story grows stranger.