Highlights
- Dolly Parton’s manager won a temporary restraining order against her nephew Bryan Seaver, her fired head of security.
- Court filings allege Seaver threatened staff and vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand’ while demanding estate money.
- Seaver denies making threats, calling his messages private ‘rage talk’ between grieving friends taken out of context.
Less than a month after Dolly Parton‘s death, the company she created to guard her legacy is in court against a member of her own family.
On Tuesday, September 22, Parton’s manager, Danny Nozell, filed a temporary restraining order under Parton’s estate, She’s Alive, LLC (SAL), against Seaver. The order was granted on the same day, banning Seaver from coming within 1,000 feet of Parton’s offices located in Nashville, Tennessee, and also from interfering with her business.
The man on the other side is Bryan Seaver, Parton’s nephew. Parton’s sister Cassie’s son, he served as her head of security for more than 20 years after taking over the position from his father, Larry Seaver.
Nozell dismissed Seaver on Sept. 15, about three weeks after the country superstar died Aug. 25. It was Seaver who announced his aunt’s death to the world in an Instagram video.
According to the filing, the trouble started before she died. Attorneys say the threats continued after her passing and targeted SAL’s personnel, counsel, and business partners. In writing, the filing alleges, Seaver vowed to “destroy the entire brand.”
Another alleged message reads: “I am about to become the hand of retribution for my entire family.”
And another: “All I do is warfare,” Seaver allegedly wrote, “everyone needs to be worried about what I might do.”
The filing frames those words against his resources. It describes his operation as a heavily armed, paramilitary-style force with military-grade weaponry and dozens of employees.
Seaver also allegedly told one of Parton’s longtime lawyers that he was a killer, and claimed he had sold $27 million in arms and ammunition to the Haitian police on the day his aunt died. If the estate didn’t pay, he allegedly told Nozell he would “set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships.”
The filing says the fear is real. Employees and associates now require personal security, some staff no longer come to work, and a lawyer who handled some of Parton’s music affairs stopped working for her.
Seaver disputes the characterization. He told TMZ that “nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by.”
He didn’t walk back the language. “I am a security professional and I am a killer,” he said. But he argued the messages were private, calling them “two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together” while grieving. He said he considered Nozell a friend who “fancies himself a gangster.”
After the firing, Seaver and his security team said they were “dismayed” by what they called an unexpected and unexplained move, criticizing Nozell and Pinnacle Bank while saying they remained committed to protecting Parton’s family.
His termination letter cited a change in ownership of Parton’s properties, and he was told to vacate and not return. His removal did not affect his status as a beneficiary of the trust.
The lawsuit alleges Seaver became “emboldened” soon after Parton passed away. The request for a restraining order also seeks a subsequent jury trial.
For now, the dispute plays out in Davidson County Chancery Court. None of the allegations have been proven.
