Dolly Parton Estate Sues Nephew, Alleging Extortion and Threats

The estate of Dolly Parton has filed a lawsuit and requested a restraining order against Bryan Seaver, the late singer's nephew and former head of security, The New York Times reports. The order, temporarily granted, keeps Seaver 1,000 feet from the estate's offices and bars him from interfering with Parton's businesses and their partners.

Danny Nozell, Parton's longtime manager, accuses Seaver of conducting an "obscene" and "escalating campaign of threats" intended to extort money from the estate since Parton's death from cancer last month. Nozell now runs She's Alive LLC, the company Parton established to manage her posthumous financial affairs and handed to him before her death. The lawsuit was filed in Nashville.

What did Seaver allegedly write?

The complaint quotes a series of messages the estate attributes to Seaver:

• "I'm a killer," Seaver wrote to one of Parton's lawyers, the lawsuit claims.
• In an email to Nozell: "I'm literally an international arms dealer and mercenary. All I do is warfare. Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do."
• In another email: "I'm going to ratf**k every entity I can possibly conjure."
• In a message to one of Parton's business partners: "Her money better be bigger than I can make elsewhere or I'm going to f*** everyone. I am about to become the hand of retribution for my entire family."

The estate claims members of Parton's staff have already resigned because of the threats.

How has Seaver responded?

Seaver told TMZ yesterday that his messages had been taken out of context. "I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments," he said, according to TMZ. "I am a security professional and I am a killer."

He reportedly added: "However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by." Phrases such as the "ratf**k" comment, he said, were "about specific, horrible business partners that have done wrong to her."

What happens now?

Seaver occupied an unusually public position for a security chief. When Parton died from cancer last month, he was the family member tasked with announcing the news to the public. Last week, the estate fired him as head of security for her properties.

The extortion claim is one piece of the larger operation to divide Parton's entertainment enterprise, which includes the Dollywood amusement park and a hotel and museum in Nashville. Seaver has been served with a temporary restraining order while the claim is processed, and the estate's suit will now test whether Nozell's She's Alive LLC can shield the businesses from further disruption.