Dolly Parton's nephew pushes back on restraining order filed against him

Dolly Parton's nephew and longtime head of security said in a Tennessee court filing Tuesday that he was a close friend and ally of Parton's longtime manager Danny Nozell before Nozell took out a restraining order accusing him of threatening to do violence and destroy Parton's legacy and business empire.

In an affidavit opposing the temporary order becoming permanent, Bryan Seaver said text messages Nozell cited as evidence against him were a "private conversation between two friends who were both frustrated, grieving and discussing strategy." The text messages were sent shortly before and after Parton's Aug. 25 death.

Seaver said he never sent threatening messages to any of Parton's businesses or business partners or their employees.

A Tennessee judge last month granted the temporary restraining order filed by She's Alive — an entity run by Nozell and founded to manage Parton's estate — against Seaver and his private security firm Squadron Augmented Protection Services.

As part of the order, Seaver and SAPS must refrain from talking with or being within 1,000 feet of She's Alive employees, attorneys and business partners. The order is also meant to keep Seaver from interfering with its business relationships.

Tuesday's filings represent Seaver's first public defense of himself since a serious rift opened up in the country music legend's circle and spilled into public view shortly after her death.

Seaver's court filing says Nozell did not react with alarm to his text messages at the time and that he agreed with or reacted positively to some of them. Seaver says Nozell encouraged him to publicly tout the military and arms aspect of SAPS as a smart business-promotion move, then turned around and used them as evidence of Seaver's capacity for dangerous violence.

She's Alive terminated Seaver and SAPS in early September, and the following week petitioned for the restraining order against him, arguing that his "terrorizing conduct made their continued retention untenable."

In granting the temporary restraining order, Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles cited Seaver's "claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate."

The two sides will make their cases to Myles at a hearing on Oct. 20. Emails seeking comment were sent to lawyers for She's Alive and Nozell.

The complaint filed last month alleged that Seaver and his company used "terroristic threats, harassment, and intimidation" against She's Alive.

"Those means are especially improper because they have been deployed as part of a calculated campaign by a trained military/private-security operative with access to an arsenal of military-grade weaponry, rather than through any legitimate commercial or legal process," the complaint read.

Seaver said he was blindsided by the order, which was granted while he was doing contract security work in Haiti.

In one message written Sept. 1 that was cited by She's Alive, Seaver said: "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 f****** pay me."

It also accused Seaver of being "emboldened" and "relentless" in his threats against She's Alive since Parton's death.

"He has individually, and through his associates, made repeated written threats to Ms. Parton's staff, legal and business advisers, and others," the complaint read. "These were not ordinary workplace disputes or heated words; they were deliberate threats from a self-proclaimed heavily armed, former security operative with a military-contractor background."

In another text message, Seaver alleged that he "just sold 29 million dollars worth of ammo to Haiti."

Seaver argued in his response Tuesday that the order is so broad, and Parton's business reach so great, that much of Nashville and even his own relatives are off-limits to him.

Seaver said his anger and the demand were only over more than $250,000 that his company was owed for completed work by Herschend Family Entertainment, which operates Parton's amusement park Dollywood and her Songteller Hotel, which opened after her death.

Seaver acknowledged being overly crude and profane in his messages to Nozell. He said allegations that he had "menaced and intimidated" HFE employees were simply false. He said in his filing though that he had "never threatened physical harm" to Nozell or any She's Alive employee.

He included as an exhibit a 2024 letter from Parton praising him and his company. Parton had handpicked Seaver to announce her death once she succumbed to cancer.

"I have declined to speak with the media about this case and have asked my attorneys to handle all media communications," Seaver wrote in his affidavit. "I care about Ms. Parton, her music, her legacy, and her family. I do not want this dispute to harm her legacy."

In a prerecorded video announcing Parton's death last month, Seaver said that his video was "something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality."

He described it as "an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus."

Parton was a widely beloved country music giant, philanthropist and cultural icon who wrote hundreds of songs, including classics such as "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors" and "I Will Always Love You." Her music earned a total of more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams.