A day after Dolly Parton’s trust accused her nephew of interfering with its business relationships through “threats, intimidation and coercion,” a Tennessee judge granted the estate a temporary restraining order against him, citing a series of emails and other communications that allegedly paired “threats with demands for payment.”
In an order issued Wednesday and obtained by Rolling Stone, Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles of Nashville Chancery Court directed Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, to stay at least 1,000 feet from estate employees and business partners, remain off private property owned by the estate, and refrain from disruptive or harassing conduct.
Attempts to reach Seaver for comment were not immediately successful Wednesday. He is the relative who announced Parton’s death in a prerecorded video posted to her Instagram account that drew millions of reactions. According to court filings, Seaver previously worked for private military contractors and later provided security for Parton and her properties through his company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services, which is also subject to the temporary restraining order.
The judge’s order issued Wednesday cites several written communications filed as exhibits with the estate’s complaint on Tuesday. In multiple messages excerpted in the ruling, Seaver allegedly threatened Danny Nozell, the sole manager of She’s Alive LLC, the company that Parton designated to control her professional property and business interests after her death.
“I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit,” Seaver allegedly wrote in one text on Aug. 19, about a week before Parton’s death at age 80.
“I just sold 29 million dollars worth of ammo to Haiti. I’m not exactly a media person, Danny. I’m literally an international arms dealer and mercenary,” Seaver purportedly wrote in another text after Parton died.
“Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do,” reads another message attributed to Seaver and cited in the ruling. “All I have is animosity and memory. But I’m going to spend the next times I have on earth ratfucking anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”
Judge Myles wrote that the statements were significant “not merely because of their language in isolation, but also because they were made in conjunction with statements threatening specific individuals and business interests associated with Ms. Parton’s professional property and estate.”
The judge also said Seaver had “expressly connected threatened interference with Ms. Parton’s commercial interests to a demand for payment.” The ruling cited another alleged message from Seaver: “I’m going to set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It’s going to be great. Or fucking pay me.”
Myles set a follow-up court hearing for Oct. 7. At this preliminary stage, however, she wrote that the messages appeared to demonstrate a “repeated course of conduct” in which Seaver identified specific people or interests and allegedly “coupled those threats with demands for payment or other action” while invoking “his claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate.”
Seaver was removed from his security role connected to Parton’s business on Sept. 15, according to a letter from lawyers representing She’s Alive that was filed in the business-interference case. The letter, obtained by Rolling Stone, said the termination did not affect Seaver’s separate interest as a beneficiary of the trust.
“The Co-Trustees will be in contact with you and the other beneficiaries in the near future regarding your interest as a beneficiary of the Trust,” the letter said. “All parties hope that this will be a smooth transition, and the Trust group looks forward to corresponding with you as one of the beneficiaries.”
If Seaver chooses to fight the restraining order, he must file a response by Oct. 2, Myles said. The Oct. 7 hearing will address any further relief sought by the estate.
In a statement to TMZ on Tuesday, Seaver defended his text messages and said they were taken out of context. “I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments,” he said. “However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by.”