Dolly Parton’s longtime manager has filed a restraining order request against Bryan Seaver, the late country singer’s nephew and former head of security, accusing him of making threatening and intimidating statements amid an escalating fight over the musician’s estate.
The request was filed Tuesday by She’s Alive, the corporate entity set up to manage Parton’s business interests after her death last month. She’s Alive is run by Danny Nozell, Parton’s former manager, who alleges in the court documents that Seaver engaged in an “obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats” to extract money from She’s Alive and Parton’s trust.
“Mr. Seaver has been relentless,” the complaint says. “He has individually, and through his associates, made repeated, written threats to Ms. Parton’s staff, partners, legal and business advisors, and others.”
The complaint further claims that many of these individuals are afraid to come to work or have resigned because they do not feel safe.
In text messages included in the filing, an individual identified as Seaver said he would “destroy the entire brand” and set up a podcast dedicated to that end. He described himself as an international arms dealer and mercenary who “just sold 29 million dollars worth of ammo to Haiti,” according to the complaint.
“I have no debt. I only own swords and guns,” Seaver said in the messages, according to the filing. “All I have is animosity and memory. But I’m going to spend the next time I have on earth [attacking] anyone that has ever betrayed my family,” he added, using a profanity.
Seaver, who announced Parton’s death in an Instagram video, had served as Parton’s head of security for more than two decades. In the filing, Nozell alleges Seaver began making intimidating threats a few weeks before Parton died, and as a result Nozell was forced to fire him as head of security last week.
The filing requests that Seaver be barred from having contact with any staff members or business associates of She’s Alive, and to stay at least 1,000 feet away from its offices.
Seaver, Nozell and an attorney for She’s Alive did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The fillings are the first public indication of behind-the-scenes turmoil over Parton’s estate. The iconic singer and actress leveraged her stardom into a multimillion-dollar business empire. Forbes estimated Parton’s net worth to be about $450 million at the time of her death, with most of the income coming from her Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. A museum devoted to her life is set to open next month inside her SongTeller hotel in Nashville.
In comments to TMZ, which first reported the court filing, Seaver denied that any of his text messages in the documents were threats.
“I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny [Nozell] who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster,” Seaver told TMZ. “A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.”
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