Actor, producer, and filmmaker Ricky Schroder is paying tribute to Dolly Parton amid her death at 80. Taking to his Threads and Instagram accounts, Schroder, 56, shared a picture of himself with the country music legend from back in the day and wrote:“I didn’t agree with her advocating for Transgender & COVID vaccine support… but loved her anyway. Thank you for choosing me, Dolly, to be your Movie Daddy.”Ricky Schroder played the role of Dolly’s father, Robert Lee Parton (1921 to 2000), in the NBC made-for-TV film biopic Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors and its sequel Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Parton cast him in the role of her dad.Ricky Schroder’s tribute has sparked controversy and is now earning him backlash across social media platforms.“In a world where the Ricky Schroders have the loudest voices, remember the Dolly Partons who have the kindest hearts,” a netizen wrote.“Keep Dolly's name out of your mouth. You can't honor someone while working against everything they stood for. You are a disgusting POS. Dolly would be disappointed in you,” another netizen added.“Ricky, she just died. You could have honored her without using her death to remind everyone that you disapproved of her supporting trans people and vaccines. What a sh*tty, self-centred tribute,” one user commented. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostOthers continued to weigh in to call out Ricky Schroder.“What an absolute loser,” an influencer wrote on Threads.“It’s pretty horrible when even Donald Trump’s tribute was better than yours!” an individual commented.“Wow, of course you would take the opportunity of her death to bring up some minor little thing that bugged you about her. Perhaps you could have mentioned all of the free books she sent to children all over the world,” a person sarcastically stated.Exploring Dolly Parton’s association with Ricky SchroderRicky Schroder played Dolly Parton’s father, Robert Lee Parton, opposite Jennifer Nettles, who played her mother, Avie Lee Owens, in her two childhood biopics. Newcomer Alyvia Alyn Lind played the 9-year-old Dolly. The country music legend also made cameos in the movies.In December 2015, Ricky Schroder told Glamour in an interview that the Jolene singer “didn’t really tell” him why she cast him as her dad, adding:“I think she just said it was qualities that I had.”Speaking about how it was meeting Dolly Parton for the first time, Ricky noted:“She's just so funny, so warm, and wants to make everybody comfortable in the room. The funniest thing she said is, ‘You know, Ricky, I made a deal with God long ago that I'm gonna give him all the glory in my life, but I keep all the money!’”About Robert Lee Parton, Schroder explained:“They adored him in that family. He never went to a day of school; he couldn't read, so he had people read the Bible to him. She told me little things about him, some things in complete confidence that I couldn't tell you.”Dolly Parton once said Ricky Schroder reminded her “so much of my daddy.” She also shared Ricky’s picture from the movies dressed up as Robert Lee Parton. In May 2016, Schroder also appeared in an interview with Gold Derby and stated:“It started with Dolly, who was very hands-on in choosing the cast for her family. Then I heard from Dolly that I reminded her of her father Lee Parton. She would talk to me about what he was like and how much she loved him, what kind of guy he was. That was helpful.”In brief, about Dolly Parton’s views about the trans community and COVID vaccinesNow, amid Ricky Schroder’s tribute for the I Will Always Love You singer-songwriter, it is noteworthy that for decades, Dolly Parton had been a champion of LGBTQ+ rights and the trans community. For instance, she loved drag and even secretly entered her own look-alike contest in West Hollywood against drag performers.She also slammed religious judgment of queer people and called it “sinning” and said she always tried to “love everybody.” Parton made it clear that all kinds of people were welcome at Dollywood and even wrote an Oscar-nominated song for the trans community called Travelin’ Thru, which was included in the 2005 film Transamerica.Later, when North Carolina triggered controversy for their anti-trans “bathroom bill,” Dolly Parton told CNN:“I think everybody should be treated with respect. I hope that everybody gets a chance to be who and what they are.”When her home state of Tennessee tried to implement anti-trans laws, including banning gender affirming procedures, Parton told THR:“I just want everybody to be treated good. They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton.”The Islands in the Streams hitmaker was also a vocal advocate for COVID-19 vaccines. In fact, she donated $1 million to fund research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, which manufactured the Moderna vaccine.In November 2020, Dolly Parton told TODAY:“I'm just happy that anything I do can help somebody else, and when I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good. Evidently, it is.”Elsewhere, she told Absolute Radio about her charitable efforts:“Mine was a small part, of course. I probably get a lot more credit than I deserve, but I was happy to be part of that and to be able to try to stop something in its tracks that’s really become such a monster for all of us. So, I was happy to do that. My heart just kind of leads me into where I’m supposed to go and what I’m supposed to do at the time.”Dolly Parton further spoke with PEOPLE in 2021:“It was a big shock. Everybody was calling, congratulating me, and I was saying, ‘Well, for what?’ And then of course my fans took it and ran with it: ‘I’m getting the Dolly vaccine! I’m getting the Dolly juice!’ I guess they thought if Dolly got it, it might be pretty safe. But I got more credit than I deserved. I was just trying to put my money where my heart is.”Meanwhile, Ricky Schroder has been a vocal critic of the trans community and COVID vaccines. For the latter, he even joined fellow anti-vaxxers at events which required proof of shots before entry. The Silver Spoons alum even fought with a Costco employee in May 2021 who refused him entry without a mask, citing the store’s mandate.“Didn't you see the news? Nationwide Costco has said you don't need to wear masks,” Ricky Schroder was heard saying in the viral clip.When the employee replied that wasn’t the case, the Brooklyn native continued to argue:“Well, if they allow us, if they grant us that, our kings, the people in power, you're gonna listen to these people? They've destroyed our economy. They've destroyed our culture. They've destroyed our state. And you're just gonna listen to their rules.”Subsequently, Ricky Schroder asked his X followers to boycott Costco and demand membership refunds.Over the years, he has also faced other controversies, including run-ins with the law, troubles with family members, and more.Dolly Parton died at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville on August 25, following a “brief battle” with cancer. Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced the death in a video posted on her Instagram.