There will hardly be anyone who hasn’t heard Dolly Parton’s name. She is a brilliant musician whose career spans over six decades. But her name has often been the subject of rumors about her looks and surgeries. Once it was circulated that she had both her bottom ribs surgically removed. The Internet believed she did this to make her waist appear smaller and accentuate her breasts.
According to thelist.com, the rumor that Dolly had her ribs removed is untrue. It is believed that this rumor spread because she openly discussed having cosmetic procedures. And since her affinity towards plastic surgery is not hidden from anyone, everyone believed it. Many felt she could go to such lengths to enhance her looks. But this had no connection to reality. As Parton herself clarified this rumor in a 2014 interview with Women’s Day.
Recalling the time when the rib rumor actually got back to her, Dolly had quipped, “Oh, that is so BS!” She added, “I went into a restroom in Los Angeles years ago, and this girl said, ‘Oh, I want you to tell me, does that really hurt?’ I was like, ‘What? Does what hurt?’ She said, ‘Like, when they take your ribs out.’ ‘Take my ribs out? I was just gonna order ribs for dinner! What are you talking about?’”
According to Woman’s Day, Dolly wasn’t the only celebrity to have faced such an absurd rumor. She herself pointed out this fact in her 2014 interview with the portal. The singer revealed being approached by a lady in a bathroom who spoke about the singer and actress Cher. Parton further added that the lady told her that even Cher had gotten her ribs removed. But back in 1990, she herself dismissed these rumors after a doctor confirmed that she still had all her ribs intact.
Well, in 2000, a doctor, John E. Sherman, openly spoke about this procedure. He claimed never to have heard about a rib removal for cosmetic purposes and also admitted that it would be highly risky. He also added that there are no rewards. “I’m sure, because people always bring it up, that someone’s done it, somewhere,” he explained, adding, “But there’s never been anything published about it; no one has ever owned up to performing such a procedure, much less to having had one. To risk your life — your ribs are right there up against your lung tissue — for what would be a relatively minor change in aesthetics would be crazy.”
But, in 2015, a Swedish model named Pixee Fox publicly admitted getting not one but six of her ribs removed for cosmetic purposes. But she also revealed that to convince a doctor to agree to remove her ribs was very difficult. Talking about it, she said, “[It’s] almost impossible. The only reason why I can do it now is that doctors finally started taking me seriously, because they see that I’m not a crazy person.”