Key facts
- Dolly Parton's estate management company, She's Alive, is seeking a restraining order against her nephew, Bryan Seaver.
- Seaver, who was Parton's head of security, was fired by She's Alive.
- The estate alleges Seaver made threats, including claiming to be a 'killer' and 'international arms dealer'.
- Seaver allegedly threatened to ruin Parton's brand partnerships unless paid.
- Seaver denies the threats were serious, calling them 'rage talk' during grief.
The estate of the late country music star Dolly Parton is embroiled in a legal dispute with her nephew, Bryan Seaver, who previously served as her head of security. The estate's management company, She's Alive, has filed for a restraining order against Seaver, citing allegations of 'threats, intimidation, and coercion' made after his termination.
According to court filings, She's Alive alleges that Seaver mounted 'an obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats,' claiming he would ruin Parton's brand if the estate did not pay him. The estate claims Seaver described himself as a 'killer' and an 'international arms dealer,' and stated he had sold $27 million in arms and ammunition to the Haitian police on the day his aunt died.
Seaver, the son of Parton's sister Cassie, has denied the claims, stating that text messages and emails quoted in the case were taken out of context and were 'rage talk' between friends grieving. He told TMZ that he is a career soldier and military contractor who conducts arms deals for foreign governments, and that he is a security professional and a killer, but denied making threats.
Seaver's company had provided Parton's security detail for the last 20 years of her life. He was fired by She's Alive last week, an action he and his company called 'unexpected' and 'unexplained,' stating they refused to be intimidated by actions taken in bad faith.