CNN issued an apology to Dolly Parton's family after mistakenly airing a photo of Kelly Vohnn, a Las Vegas tribute performer, instead of the late country music icon during coverage of her death. The error occurred during the program "Laura Coates Live" approximately 12 hours after Parton's passing.

Kelly Vohnn, 58, who has portrayed Parton throughout her career, said she found out about the mix-up when friends texted her, surprised to see her image on CNN. She noted that the photo used was taken in December at a Las Vegas red-carpet screening. Vohnn described herself as "a tribute act for her and many other stars" and told the New York Post, "Somebody at CNN really messed up and didn’t do their research," adding that she considered contacting the network but was too overwhelmed by grief over Parton's death.

CNN expressed regret over the mistake and apologized to the Parton family in a statement to the New York Post.

Dolly Parton, 80, died Tuesday at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer, as confirmed by her team.

This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times' AI News Desk team.