The longtime manager of Dolly Parton is dropping his company’s lawsuit accusing the country music star’s nephew of waging a “campaign of threats” to extract money from his aunt’s estate.
In a notice filed on Thursday with state court in Nashville, the company tasked with managing Ms. Parton’s affairs after her death said it was voluntarily dismissing the suit. The company, She’s Alive LLC, is run by Ms. Parton’s manager, Danny Nozell.
Representatives for both sides of the suit did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the circumstances of the dismissal.
The suit was filed in September against Bryan Seaver, Ms. Parton’s nephew, who was his aunt’s bodyguard and ran a security company that oversaw some of her properties. He had appeared on his aunt’s social media accounts in August to announce her death.
The court papers cited a series of text messages from Mr. Seaver, who has described himself as an “international arms dealer and mercenary,” that the suit said alarmed Mr. Nozell and his associates.
In messages to Mr. Nozell, Mr. Seaver threatened to start a podcast dedicated to airing grievances and “ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships.” Using an expletive, he declared that he would “spend the next time I have on earth” ruining “anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”
Based on those court papers, a judge granted a temporary restraining order that banned Mr. Seaver from Ms. Parton’s properties. Mr. Seaver has vehemently denied threatening or intimidating anyone and has accused Mr. Nozell of distorting innocuous interactions to discredit him. The nephew also denied accusations that he was demanding money from his aunt’s estate, saying that he had been seeking payments owed to his security company.
Ms. Parton died in late August after what representatives described as a brief battle with cancer. She left a business empire that includes the amusement park Dollywood, a new hotel and museum, and an array of branded products.
Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.
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