Taking it seriously.
The company managing the estate of the late country music legend Dolly Parton has reportedly hired private security for its employees following perceived threats from the singer’s nephew that resulted in a highly-publicized lawsuit.
The drama started on Monday when Danny Nozell, who had served as manager for Dolly Parton since 2005 and now runs She’s Alive LLC, the company overseeing her estate, terminated Dolly’s nephew Bryan Seaver and his company as head of security for the estate.
Seaver, as you may recall, was the family member who announced Dolly’s death in a video posted on her social media back on August 25:
According to a termination notice filed in court, Seaver was informed that he was being dismissed immediately, and replacement guards have already been brought in to protect Dolly’s home in Nashville, along with her museum, downtown Music City residence and warehouse.
As you can imagine, it doesn’t sound like the termination sat well with Seaver, who said he was “dismayed by the unexpected and, so far, unexplained” actions of Dolly’s longtime manager Danny Nozell and Pinnacle Bank, who is presumably serving as a trustee over her estate:
“We remain unshakably resolved to fulfill her final directive to protect her family, 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.”
Well the explanation Seaver was looking for came on Tuesday, when She’s Alive LLC filed a lawsuit against Dolly’s nephew, requesting a temporary restraining order and accusing him of engaging in a “campaign of threats” and intimidation against the estate:
“Mr. Seaver began his campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion a few weeks prior to Ms. Parton’s passing…. In writing, he vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand’ and also told her entertainment attorney: ‘I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.’”
In text messages filed with the lawsuit, Seaver threatened to “destroy the entire brand,” while claiming that the “Dollywood brand is dying” and threatening to take his story to Billboard Magazine:
“I’m going to spend the next time I have on earth ratf**king anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”
And he also threatened to go public in another text message:
“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**king pay me.”
He also emphasized his military service and career as a contractor in a September 3, 2026 email to Dolly’s longtime attorney:
“I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer. I sold 27 million $ worth of ammunition and arms to the Haitian Police on the day Dolly died. Entertainment is not my game. I have spent my entire career breaking things and spying on African and Arab leaders. And protecting Dolly.”
Seaver continues that Dolly “blew my cover with this announcement,” presumably a reference to her request that he be the one to announce her death.
He ends the email by requesting a conversation with the attorney:
“I would appreciate having a dialogue and communication route with you. I expect you know where all the bodies are buried same as me. Let’s have dinner…”
For his part, Seaver released a statement to TMZ, Seaver standing by most of his comments, claiming that the text messages were taken out of context:
“I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer. However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by.
I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster. A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.”
And he says that Dolly always jokingly referred to as “her killer.”
“Dolly called me her killer. It was a joke we used around her camp. I was her ‘baby boy ninja’ and Danny Nozell took that text out of context to somehow imagine that I was threatening him. He’s always called me The Killer.”
But as it turns out, not everybody took his threats as a “joke” or “rage talk” in a time of grief.
According to the lawsuit, a longtime attorney for the trust terminated her representation of Dolly’s estate due to what she perceived as threats from Seaver. And the estate claims they have also been forced to hire private security for employees who fear for their own personal safety:
“SAL has been forced to retain private security for its own personnel, including at their homes, to protect against an attack from Mr. Seaver. …
A former contractor has become an aggressor against the very people and enterprise he was retained to protect, forcing SAL to divert resources to defend against the danger Defendants have created.”
Yesterday, Davidson County Chancery Court judge I’Ashea Myles granted the estate a temporary restraining order, prohibiting Seaver and his company from interfering with Dolly’s estate, entering estate property, or coming within 1,000 feet of the estate’s employees.
A hearing on the restraining order has been set for October 7 in Nashville.
Seaver has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated as things progress.
