It looks like this drama could last longer than 9 to 5.
Bryan Seaver, the nephew of the late Dolly Parton, was hit with a lawsuit and restraining order on Sept. 22 after he was fired from his longtime role as head of security for the legendary musician and her properties. In a statement to ABC News the following day, he said "the restraining order is spurious and simply a publicity stunt."
Both the lawsuit and restraining order were filed in Nashville by She’s Alive LLC (SAL), a company run by Parton’s longtime manager Danny Nozell that was established to protect the country music star’s business interests following her August death from cancer at age 80. According to court documents obtained by E! News, Seaver faces one count of tortious interference with business relations and prospective business relations and SAL argues it’s entitled to an unspecified amount of damages.
The lawsuit accuses Seaver of embarking on a "obscene, deliberate, and escalating campaign of threats" before and after Parton’s death to get money from her estate. These allegedly included threats about the singer’s brand as well as messages sent to her employees and advisors.
In one example detailed in court documents, Seaver allegedly sent a text to Nozell on Aug. 19 threatening to ruin a Dollywood relationship with a business partner. The message purportedly read, "I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit."
Another message allegedly sent Sept. 1 appears to show Seaver threatening to "set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations” people "have done on us."
"It’s going to be great," Seaver purportedly wrote to Nozell. "Or f--king pay me."
The complaint also accuses Seaver of using his self-proclaimed military contractor experience and weapons access to extort Parton’s team into submitting to his demands, pointing to an email he allegedly sent to the Grammy winner’s entertainment attorney on Sept. 3."I'm not an entertainment person. I'm a killer," Seaver’s alleged email reads. "I sold 27 million $ worth of ammunition and arms to the Haitian Police on the day Dolly died."
The complaint asserts that people either felt afraid to come to work or resigned because of Seaver’s alleged behavior. However, he denies threatening anyone from Parton’s team and argues the messages in the lawsuit aim to paint a particular picture.
"This is a contrived out-of-context explanation of how this went down and it is being done in an effort to solidify me as some sort of opposition to her brand in her legacy,” he texted The New York Times in response to the accusations, "and that is not the case."
As for the "killer" description, Seaver insisted "it was a joke we used around her camp" and that he was Parton’s "'baby boy ninja.'"
In addition, he asserts that he and Nozell were friends.
"I trusted Danny," Seaver added, "and that’s what those messages were, two friends and brothers commiserating on the people that have screwed Dolly over for many many years."
According to court documents, Seaver and his security team were fired “when their conduct became threatening, destabilizing, and incompatible with any safe working environment.” A termination letter is dated Sept. 15. However, Seaver told TMZ Sept. 21 that he was “dismayed" to learn he was being replaced following Parton's death, calling the move "unexpected and, so far, unexplained."
"We remain unshakably resolved to fulfill her final directive to protect her family,” Seaver added, “and we refuse to be intimidated by those whose actions we believe are being taken in bad faith and with the intent to profit from the life of someone who willingly gave so much."
E! News has reached to Seaver and Nozell for comment but has yet to hear back.
Seaver was the one to announce Parton’s death on Aug. 25.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Seaver, the son of her sister Cassie, said in a clip shared to social media at the time. "As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now. It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness."
Because Parton leaves behind an unmatched legacy, look back on her extraordinary life.