Rumors That Reba McEntire Just Couldn't Escape

From a budding country star in the '70s to a living music legend in the 2020s, Reba McEntire has lived a lifetime of success in the spotlight. With many decades in the public, McEntire has been the subject of some ridiculous rumors. The star has always defused gossip on her name with grace and a little humor.

As a celebrity, it's nearly impossible not to read a false headline or two about yourself. In 2023, Jenna Ortega shut down the wildest rumor that she was dating Johnny Depp, even though she had never met him. Ashton Kutcher has had his fair share of public scrutiny over many affair rumors — a 2017 tabloid particularly got under his skin so much that he posted to X (formerly Twitter) to let the world know that the girl he was seen with was his cousin.

It seems the bigger the star, the crazier the rumor. Since McEntire's accolades include seven ACM awards, three Grammys, and an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, it's no wonder she has been in some unnecessary heat. Read more to find out what crazy rumors have surfaced about Reba.

A few of the baseless rumors about Reba McEntire center around the artist's health. McEntire's hearing has been a topic of conversation for many years. Rumors that the "Fancy" singer suffers from hearing loss and wears hearing aids have circulated the internet, though there is no indication that this is true.

McEntire is not hard of hearing and reasonable explanations can debunk the rumors. McEntire has previously worked with the Starkey Hearing Foundation — an organization built to make hearing healthcare more accessible around the globe — and even performed at the annual So the World May Hear gala in 2011 to raise money for them. However, she has never indicated that she has hearing loss herself. 

The speculation may also come from the fact that the singer wears an earpiece called an in-ear monitor on stage, which helps tune out the crowd so she can stay on pitch. The IEM looks similar to a hearing aid, which could have confused audience members to mistake it for something McEntire would use if she were hard of hearing.

One of the most outlandish rumors to go viral about the "Survivor" hitmaker is that she died. In 2012, a fake article from the website Global Associated News — a publication similar to the satirical bogus news site The Onion — claimed that Reba McEntire had fallen over 100 feet to her death while hiking the Austrian Hahnenkamm mountain range. Even though the article disclaimed at the bottom of the page that the story was 100% false, the article circulated the internet, leaving fans distraught over the news of her "passing."

Once the hoax reached the musician, she rose from her fake grave to let the world know she was indeed alive and well. "There is a rumor going around that I died after falling off a mountain in Austria yesterday while shooting a movie," she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It was easy for the world to accept rumors that Reba McEntire and Taylor Swift were involved in a feud, since they both have dominated the country music genre. After the 2024 Super Bowl, McEntire had to squash the rumors that she found Taylor Swift's behavior incredibly disrespectful during her live rendition of the national anthem.

In a screenshot of what McEntire claimed to be a fake news story which she shared on Instagram, it claimed that the "Voice" coach saw Swift "laughing and drinking and making a mockery" while she was singing (via ABC News). It even alleged that McEntire said: "I let her have it afterward. She's an entitled little brat."

McEntire made it known in the Instagram post that the incident never happened. "Please don't believe everything you see on the Internet," she wrote in the caption. She went on to heap praise on her fellow country star, writing, "Taylor is a wonderful artist, strong role model and has done so much good for so many people and the music industry."

Debunking the Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton feud rumors is no easy feat. Since both women made it big in the country music scene, the public has concocted a narrative that the two singers hate each other. Many anonymous sources have come to tabloids to reveal stories of their rivalry, including an insider who told the National Enquirer that Parton and McEntire fought over who should headline Kenny Rodgers' 2020 farewell concert.

Based on how McEntire and Parton talk of one another, their feud is a hoax. In fact, McEntire has had a decades-long friendship with Parton. In 2021, the music legends collaborated on a revived rendition of McEntire's 1993 hit "Does He Love You," which included a music video that featured a behind-the-scenes snippet of the two laughing with each other. In addition, McEntire told Newsweek in 2023 that she has always been a fan of Parton, admitting that she grew up listening to the "Jolene" singer's first album, "Blue Ridge Mountain Boy."

Reba McEntire has been a country music titan for so long that even she isn't immune to the rumors of her soon retreating from the public. However, the untold truth of McEntire is that she's never retiring. Not anytime soon, anyway. In early 2024, rumors circulated that McEntire was planning on turning over her chair to a new judge, giving up her role as a coach on "The Voice." But the "Reba" actor quickly revealed that it was all just hearsay, and she could report that the rumors were untrue.

McEntire went on X to address the issues she had been having with scammers on the internet using her name. "Please do not click on any articles that say I am leaving The Voice. This is not true," she wrote. "These are fake websites to lure people in with clickbait where they claim I have a company to sell weight loss gummy products. This is false. I do not sell or promote any type of gummy product." People in the comments of her post voiced their relief that their favorite "Voice" coach would be there next season, and that she wasn't an ambassador for the newest weight loss gimmick!