Dolly Parton’s estate has been thrown into legal turmoil less than a month after the legendary singer’s death.
On Tuesday, She’s Alive — a corporation tasked with managing Parton’s sprawling business ventures — filed a restraining order in Nashville’s Davidson County Chancery Court against the singer’s nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security and announced her death in a video. According to The New York Times, Seaver is accused of launching “an obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats” to extract money from the Parton estate.
The filing states that Seaver’s operation “was not a conventional office-security operation; it was a heavily armed, paramilitary-style force,” adding that it possessed military-grade weaponry and had dozens of employees.
In text messages attached to the court papers, The Times reported that someone identified as Seaver issued a threat against a Dollywood business partner and said that he would become “the hand of retribution for my entire family.” According to the complaint, Seaver allegedly described himself as a “killer” in a Sept. 3 message to one of Parton’s attorneys.
Seaver also reportedly told She’s Alive’s manager, Danny Nozell, via text message that he would create a podcast “dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us.”
Nozell, fired Seaver, who runs Squadron Augmented Protection Services, LLC (SAPS), on Sept. 15, according to Variety.
According to the lawsuit, “it was important to [Dolly Parton] to employ her family members when they had skill sets compatible with her business needs.” The complaint claims that a lawyer for Parton’s estate and trust resigned after Seaver made “harassing and ominous threats” during a phone call and that some staff members have quit, while others have hired private security.
In the filing by She’s Alive, Seaver allegedly threatened the corporation’s “personnel, counsel, and business partners” and in writing, “vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand,’ threatened to ‘ratfuck every [business party] entity’ that helps operate Dollywood,” per Variety.
In a statement to TMZ on Tuesday, Seaver defended his position. “I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer,” he said. “However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by,” he added, claiming the allegations were taken out of context.
“I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster,” he continued. “A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.”
Seaver and a representative for Squadron Augmented Protection Services, LLC, did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment. A lawyer for She’s Alive did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
