Dolly Parton’s nephew pushed back against claims that he sent threatening messages to some of the late country legend’s business partners, arguing that many texts and emails cited in a recent complaint were taken out of context.
Earlier this month, Bryan Seaver — who served as Parton’s longtime head of security and appeared in the video announcing her death — was hit with a temporary restraining order following a complaint from She’s Alive, LLC. The corporation was set up to posthumously manage Parton’s business ventures, and is overseen by her longtime manager, Danny Nozell.
The complaint accused Seaver of launching “an obscene, deliberate, and escalating campaign of threats” to extract money from the Parton estate. It also claimed there was nothing conventional about Seaver’s security company, describing it as “a heavily armed, paramilitary-style force capable of projecting threat and coercion.”
The complaint cited numerous messages from Seaver, which contained striking proclamations like: “I’m going to ratfuck every [Dollywood business partner] entity I can possibly conjure”; “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer”; and “I sold 27 million $ worth of ammunition and arms to the Haitian Police on the day Dolly died.”
But Seaver claimed many of these messages were taken out of context from direct communications between him and Nozell, whom he described as “my close friend, colleague, and ally” up until the weeks after Parton’s death. Of many of the messages cited in the complaint, Seaver said, “They were sent in the course of private conversations between two friends who were both frustrated, grieving, and discussing strategy following Ms. Parton’s illness and death.”
He also rebuffed claims that he and employees of his security company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS), “menaced and intimidated” personnel at a new Parton-themed hotel and museum in Nashville.
“I have never threatened physical harm to Mr. Nozell, to any SAL employee, contractor, attorney, advisor, or business partner, or to anyone else associated with SAL,” Seaver said. “I have no intention of doing so.”
Lawyers for Nozell did not immediately return a request for comment. Lawyers for Seaver also did not return a request for comment.
The affidavit pushes back against the framing of a set of text messages sent after Seaver began receiving media requests following his role in announcing Parton’s death. In those messages, Seaver described himself as “not exactly a media person,” adding, “I’m literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.”
Seaver noted that elsewhere in the conversation, Nozell actually encouraged him to promote his professional background. And, he added, Nozell even “hearted” the text in which Seaver said he was an arms dealer and mercenary.
“Clearly, he wasn’t frightened or intimated,” Seaver said of Nozell.
Seaver did acknowledge that his language at times was “crude,” such as his use of the word “ratfuck.” But he claimed he used it in the sense of trying to “undercut or outmaneuver someone in business or politics. It does not mean physical harm, and I did not intend it that way.”
To that end, Seaver’s affidavit did shed some light on concerns he had about some of Parton’s business partners. It references the build-out of the SongTeller Hotel, the Parton-themed hotel in Nashville, which he claimed was “plagued with” construction and fire inspection delays. He also claimed to have “observed and commented on misconduct by the contracted security company,” such as smoking marijuana on the property and sleeping on the clock. (As noted in the complaint, SAPS was not contracted to handle security for SongTeller.)
Some of the messages Seaver sent about the issue were cited in the She’s Alive complaint, and Seaver admitted they “were blunt and at times profane.” But, he continued, “They were complaints about poor performance and delays… They were not threats of violence.”
Seaver also said he “discussed those communications directly” with Parton, and that she told him if he “believed the issue was worth pursuing, I should say what needed to be said.”
In asking the judge to dissolve the temporary restraining order, Seaver noted that the order, as it stands, prohibits him from coming within 1,000 feet of any person or entity that may have a relationship with She’s Alive. Due to the breadth of Parton’s business ventures, Seaver said that included “a very large part of the Nashville music, entertainment, hospitality, legal, and banking communities,” meaning he could easily violate the order “simply by going about my business in Nashville.”
He also addressed the deluge of media attention he’s received since She’s Alive filed its complaint, claiming that numerous people have showed up at his house or called his family. Of recent photos that showed barbed wire and caution tape outside his house, Seaver said he placed them there at the request of his teenage son. “The purpose was to protect my family from unwanted approaches, not to evade service of process,” he said.
Seaver closed his affidavit by saying, “I care about Ms. Parton, her music, her legacy, and her family. I do not want this dispute to harm her legacy.”
A follow-up hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for Oct. 20.
