Dolly Parton estate seeks restraining order against nephew Bryan Seaver
She's Alive, the corporation that manages Dolly Parton's business ventures, asked a court in Nashville for a restraining order against her nephew Bryan Seaver on 22 September. The request was filed in Davidson County Chancery Court, according to court papers detailed by The New York Times.
A restraining order is a court order that can limit what a person may do or require them to keep away. Here, the request was brought by estate manager Danny Nozell. It seeks to halt actions by Seaver after his dismissal.
Seaver is Parton's nephew and served as her head of security. He led that security work for decades and runs Squadron Augmented Protection Services, LLC, known as SAPS. He was also the family member who announced Parton's death in a video.
Nozell fired Seaver on 15 September. The filing says Seaver was dismissed from overseeing security at Parton's properties after her death. The application for a court order followed one week later, on 22 September.
The complaint accuses Seaver of an “obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats” to extract money from the estate, as reported by Rolling Stone. It alleges he made violent threats while attempting to extort Nozell. The filing presents these as written and spoken threats made after the firing.
The papers cite several specific messages. In a 3 September message to one of Parton's attorneys, Seaver allegedly described himself as a “killer”. In other writings cited in the complaint, he allegedly vowed to “destroy the entire brand” and threatened business entities that help operate Dollywood. The estate also claims he spoke of “vengeance” and of owning swords and guns.
The filing describes Seaver's security operation as a heavily armed, paramilitary-style force. It says the operation has dozens of employees and holds military-grade weaponry. The complaint further claims that a lawyer for Parton's estate and trust resigned after what it describes as harassing and ominous threats from Seaver during a phone call.
Variety reported the manager's request as an effort to stop further action by the former security chief. The court papers set out the allegations and ask the court to intervene. They do not record any ruling.
