Los Angeles, Oct 10 (IANS): Country music legend Dolly Parton has taken an apolitical stance throughout her career, and she says that she's scared of alienating "half" of her fans by making a political statement.

"Because you're going to lose half your audience. Even within my own family, especially the last few years since Trump and Biden, all that, it's like we can't even go to a family dinner any more.”

“Especially if people are drinking - they get in a damn fight at the table," Dolly told 'The Guardian' newspaper when asked why she's avoided politics for so many years.

Parton is alarmed by the divisive nature of US politics, reports aceshowbiz.com.

However, she says she doesn't want to "insult" any of her fans.

She said: "Don't get so trapped where if you're a Republican, you got to be this way, if you're Democrat, you got to be that way. You're not allowed to think nothing else. Well, how crippling is that?"

"I've got as many Democrats as I do Republicans as fans, and I'm not going to insult any of them because I care about all of them. I ain't that good a Christian to think that I am so good that I can judge people. That's God's job, not mine. So as far as politics, I hate politics. Hate politics."

Despite this, Parton said that she's open-minded about her own views.

She shared, "It's just that I see both sides of everything."

"I think people can change their views on a lot of things if they would open their eyes wide enough, or be willing to accept, 'Well, maybe I'm wrong.' But most people won't change their mind because it makes them look weak and it's like they have to stick with it. And that's just stupid to me."