Jeff Bezos gives Dolly Parton $100m

Dolly Parton has received a $100m (around £84.5m) award from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The money was given as part of Bezos’ annual Courage and Civility Award, which Parton is expected to give to charities of her choice.

The “9 to 5” singer was given the award to honour her contribution to “kids, literacy and so many other things”.

“Jeff [Bezos] and I are so proud to share that we have a new Bezos Courage and Civility Award winner,” Bezos’ partner Lauren Sanchez wrote in a caption beside a video posted on Instagram.

“A woman who gives with her heart and leads with love and compassion in every aspect of her work,” she said.

“We can’t wait to see all the good that you’re going to do with this $100 million award,” she wrote.

In the video Besoz and Sanchez can be seen giving Parton her award.

“The award recognises leaders who aim high, find solutions and who always do it with civility,” Sanchez said, explaining the concept behind the award.

The award is given for the winner to “direct to the charities that they see fit” she added.

“The woman you’re about to meet embodies these ideals so thoroughly. She gives with her heart – what she’s done for kids, literacy and so many other things is just incredible,” said Bezos before announcing Parton as the winner.

After the announcement, Parton can be seen joining the stage before giving Bezos a hug and shouting “wow!”.

“Did you say $100m?” she questions. “When people are in a position to help, they should help.”

“I’ve always said I try to put my money where my heart is,” she continued, “and I think you do the same thing,” she said.

‘I’m going to do my best to do good things with this money, thank you Jeff,’ she added.

The 76-year-old country singer has since retweeted the video with the same caption.

Parton gave $1m towards vaccination research at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center during the pandemic. She also has a scholarship programme which awards $15,000 to recipients towards their college studies.