Dolly Parton‘s nephew, Bryan Seaver, has spoken out after he was served a restraining order by the country legend’s estate.
Seaver, who worked as head of security for Parton, was fired from that role on Sept. 15, which was followed by her longtime manager Danny Nozell, filing a temporary restraining order to protect her properties.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Nozell claimed that Seaver has made intimidating remarks.
Parton passed at the age of 80 on Tuesday, Aug. 25, after a brief battle with cancer, leaving behind a multimillion-dollar estate which includes her iconic Dollywood amusement park. She and her late husband Carl Dean had no children.
Bryan Seaver Calls The Restraining Order a ‘Publicity Stunt’
GettyHowever, Seaver has now broken his silence on the restraining order, calling it a “spurious and simply a publicity stunt.”
“I was fired. After the estate negotiated with me and my company for services in perpetuity and agreed to that service provision from my company,” Seaver said in a statement to ABC News. “A week later they fired me for these contrived ‘threats.'”
When speaking with the outlet, he also said that his aunt jokingly called him “her killer.”
“Dolly called me her killer. It was a joke we used around her camp,” Seaver said. “I was her ‘baby boy ninja’ and Danny Nozell took that text out of context to somehow imagine that I was threatening him. He’s always called me The Killer.”
“I’ve never threatened anyone … They are my friends and my brothers and colleagues,” he added.
In the court documents obtained by ABC News, Nozell claims that Seaver threatened attorneys, business partners and employees, also going as far as to warn that he could “destroy the entire brand.” He also told a member of the singer’s legal team that he’s “not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.”
Bryan Seaver Announced Dolly Parton’s Passing
In a video posted to Parton’s Instagram page, Seaver shared the news that his aunt had passed away.
“My name is Brian Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he said in the video. “This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality. As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.
“It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly,” he added. “Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents, and countess other who have watched her and longe for her to meet them in the heavens.”
