New details have emerged in the dispute between Dolly Parton’s estate and her nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as the country singer’s head of security for more than two decades.
Nearly a month after Parton’s Aug. 25 passing, She’s Alive, LLC., a company Parton created to protect her professional property and business interests, filed a lawsuit against Seaver on Sept. 22. The filing accuses him of trying to obtain money from Parton’s estate through threats and intimidation.
Seaver, who was fired as head of security earlier in September, has denied threatening anyone. He told ABC News that the temporary restraining order against him was “spurious and simply a publicity stunt.”
Parton’s sister Freida Parton also spoke out after the allegations became public, saying the dispute does not extend to the Parton family.
“No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate,” she wrote on Facebook on Sept. 23. “We all love Bryan, just as we all love each other.”
Dolly Parton’s Estate Alleges Bryan Seaver Made ‘Chilling’ Threats
According to Tennessee court documents obtained by People, She’s Alive, LLC alleged that Seaver “sought to extract money from SAL and Dolly Parton’s trusts through an obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats.”
The filing claims Seaver made the comments during conversations with Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, both before and after Parton’s passing.
According to the complaint, Seaver allegedly told Nozell, “I am vengeance for my people for the next 50 years. I have no debt. I only own swords and guns. My children have 3 houses to live in forever. My wife owns everything. All I have is animosity and memory. But I’m going to spend the next time I have on earth ratf—-ing anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”
The filing characterized the statement as a “threat of continuing retaliation.”
Court documents also cite a Sept. 3 email Seaver allegedly sent to an entertainment attorney who had worked with Parton for years. In the message, Seaver allegedly claimed he had sold $27 million in ammunition and weapons to Haitian police on the day Parton passed.
“I’m literally an international arms dealer and mercenary,” he allegedly wrote.
Seaver has denied that his comments amounted to threats.
“I’ve never threatened anyone,” he told ABC News. “They are my friends and my brothers and colleagues.”
Dolly Parton’s Nephew Says Comments Were Taken Out of Context
Another point raised in the court filings involves Seaver allegedly referring to himself as a “killer.”
Seaver told ABC News that the term had a specific meaning in his relationship with his aunt and was not intended as a threat.
“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.”
The filings also cite an email in which Seaver allegedly described himself as Parton’s “favorite child amongst us.”
Parton had chosen Seaver to publicly announce her passing. In the Aug. 25 video, he explained that she had asked him years earlier to take on that responsibility.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Seaver said. “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.”
Court Filing Claims the Country Music Legend’s Employees Left Over Safety Concerns
She’s Alive, LLC. also alleged that Seaver’s behavior caused several people connected to Parton’s business operations to leave their jobs.
According to People’s report on the court documents, an attorney representing Parton’s trusts and estates resigned after Seaver allegedly made “harassing and ominous threats” against her.
The filing also claims other employees resigned because they feared retaliation involving Seaver and people connected to his security company, SAPS. Other personnel have allegedly stayed away from the office because of safety concerns.
Seaver acknowledged to ABC News that he was fired from his security position, but described the allegations against him as “contrived threats.”
