A battle within the Dolly Parton family is developing and the latest chapter has been revealed. The estate of the country legend has sued her former head of security and asked a court to keep him away from her business.
Davidson County, Tennessee, court records show that She’s Alive, LLC (SAL), the entity set up by Parton’s estate, filed a complaint on Tuesday, September 22nd, against Bryan Seaver, the nephew who led her security and gained notoriety for announcing Parton’s death, and requested a restraining order against him. The estate also submitted evidence to the court to justify the restraining order, according to records.
TMZ reports that the lawsuit stems from violent threats Seaver allegedly made as he tried to extort her estate manager, Danny Nozell, into coughing up money. Nozell is reported to have said in court filings that Seaver had been “invoking his self-proclaimed military-contractor experience, access to weapons, and capacity for violence” to extract money from the estate.
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In a series of text messages, which TMZ published, submitted to the court as evidence alleged to be from Seaver, he is accused of saying, “Her money better be bigger than I can make elsewhere or I’m going to f— everyone. I am about to become the hand of retribution for my entire family.”
He’s also alleged to have stated, “I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these —- out of our bit” to Nozell, and “I’m going to set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It’s going to be great. Or f—— pay me,” as well as, “Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do.”
The Parton estate claimed Seaver said, “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.”
Seaver told TMZ some of his words were taken out of context and nothing he said was a threat. Some of his texts weren’t aimed at the estate but a specific company that had mistreated Parton, he said in a statement to TMZ.
“Nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by,” Seaver was quoted as saying by the celebrity news outlet. “I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster . . . A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.”
However, Seaver did confirm one of the alleged statements in the court filings.
“I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer,” he told TMZ
It was reported Monday that Seaver had been fired the previous week as security at Parton’s properties after serving in the role for more than two decades. Seaver’s introduction to the public came via an August 25th social media video announcing his aunt’s death, a task he said he had been assigned many years before.
Parton died in Nashville on August 25th after a brief battle with cancer.
Consequence has reached out to Parton’s representatives for more information.