Less than a month after Dolly Parton’s death, the country music legend’s longtime manager has filed for a restraining order against her nephew, Bryan Seaver, who until recently ran her security operation.
Court documents allege that Seaver attempted to pressure members of Parton’s team for money and threatened violence and damage to her business interests, including Dollywood, prompting employees and associates to hire personal security.
Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager and a representative of the company that manages her professional interests, fired Seaver on September 15. Seaver, the son of Parton’s sister, was also the family member who announced his aunt’s death in a video posted to Instagram.
According to the court filing, Seaver described himself as a mercenary and a “killer” and sent messages before and after Parton’s death threatening to damage her businesses unless he received money he claimed he was owed.
“Mr. Seaver began his campaign of threats and intimidation several weeks before Ms. Parton’s death,” the filing alleges. “The threats continued after her death and were directed at company employees, legal counsel and business partners.”
According to the filing, Seaver vowed in writing to “destroy the entire brand,” threatened business entities involved with Dollywood and described himself as “literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.” He allegedly warned that “everyone should fear what I may do” and told Parton’s entertainment attorney: “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.”
The filing also alleges that Seaver threatened to launch a podcast aimed at damaging Parton’s commercial partnerships unless he was paid.
Variety reported that text messages to Nozell included in the court documents allegedly contained a threat to destroy the Parton brand unless certain Dollywood business partners were removed from their dealings.
In another alleged message, Seaver wrote: “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.” He then claimed that on the day Parton died, he had sold $27 million worth of ammunition and weapons to Haitian police.
“Entertainment isn’t my business,” he allegedly wrote, adding that he had spent his career “breaking things,” conducting intelligence work involving African and Arab leaders and protecting Parton.
Other messages allegedly included: “Everything I do is war,” as well as a warning that “everyone should fear what I may do.”
In another, he allegedly wrote that the money he was demanding “better be more than I can make elsewhere,” or he would retaliate against those involved.
One of the longer messages attributed to Seaver said he intended to become “the vengeance of my people for the next 50 years.” He wrote that he had no debts, that all he personally owned were “swords and guns,” that his children had three homes to live in permanently and that his wife owned everything else.
“All I have is hatred and memory,” he allegedly wrote, adding that he intended to spend the rest of his life going after anyone he believed had betrayed his family.
The company’s request for a restraining order alleges that Seaver’s conduct had already produced the damage it was designed to cause.
Parton’s trusts and estates attorney resigned after allegedly being targeted by Seaver, according to the filing. Company employees also resigned, while others stopped coming to the office because they feared Seaver and people associated with him who were allegedly armed.
The company and affiliated vendors were forced to hire private security for employees, including protection at their homes, according to the filing. “Day-to-day operations have given way to an atmosphere of fear,” the court documents allege.
Dolly Parton
(Photo: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
The company said it was therefore seeking immediate court intervention until a full hearing could be held on its request for temporary injunctive relief.
“Every day without relief gives Mr. Seaver another opportunity to drive away a trusted employee, attorney, licensee, commercial partner or other essential person,” the filing states, according to the allegations summarized in the court papers.
“The campaign continues, its consequences are accumulating, and the company should not be required to wait for the next resignation, or the next threat, before receiving protection.”
Court documents say Seaver managed his aunt’s security for about 20 years. The filing alleges that he used both his family relationship with Parton and the access he gained during two decades as her security provider to expand what the documents characterize as his private militia.
In his security role, Seaver allegedly had extensive access to the people, routines, vulnerabilities and business operations surrounding Parton. The company claims he later used his family ties, privileged access and accumulated knowledge against people and organizations it depended on.
The written record, according to the filing, shows what the company describes as a deliberate escalation: from threats involving a major commercial relationship, to claims about arms dealing and combat experience, to direct intimidation of lawyers and ultimately an alleged “pay me or face the consequences” threat involving Parton’s business partnerships.
Seaver responded to the allegations Tuesday in a statement to TMZ. “I am a soldier and a professional military man, I work as a military contractor and I also broker arms deals for foreign governments,” he said. “I am a security professional and I am a killer.”
However, Seaver denied that the statements cited in the lawsuit were intended as threats. “Nothing described in this lawsuit was a threat, and I stand behind most of the things I said,” he said.
Seaver said he had spoken candidly and privately with Nozell, whom he believed to be a friend and who, according to Seaver, liked to imagine himself as a gangster.
“Many of these text messages are two men talking out of anger and crying together on the phone while we were grieving,” he said.