What in the world?
Attorneys for Dolly Parton‘s estate say a private investigator issued a subpoena for police body cam footage involving her nephew, Bryan Seaver, without their permission, days after the request was made alleging an altercation occurred at Vanderbilt Medical Center on the day that Dolly passed away.
The subpoena was issued in the ongoing lawsuit between She’s Alive, LLC, the company overseeing the late country legend’s estate, and Bryan Seaver, the nephew of Dolly Parton who previously served as her head of security along with his security company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS). In the subpoena to Vanderbilt, the university was requested to turn over police body cam footage from the day before Parton’s death. Specifically, the document requested
“A copy of all body worn camera video footage for all officers present from 1:00 AM on 8/24/2026 through 1:00 AM on 8/25/26 at Vanderbilt Medical Center that features the Defendant Bryan Seaver’s altercation with police personel [sic].”
The subpoena was issued on behalf of Tim Warnock, an attorney for Loeb & Loeb who is representing She’s Alive, LLC in the case. But it isn’t signed by the attorney, and instead lists the name of private investigator Diana Hutson as the agent. The return on service also shows that Hutson personally served the subpoena to the office of the general counsel for Vanderbilt University.
But Warnock says that he never authorized the subpoena, and had no knowledge that it was being requested until it was reported by TMZ.
In an email from Warnock, which was filed along with a motion from Seaver’s attorneys, the attorney for the estate says that he has instructed Vanderbilt’s general counsel to disregard the subpoena:
“We just learned that the attached subpoena was issued to Vanderbilt under my name. I did not authorize anyone to issue a subpoena. We have notified Vanderbilt’s general counsel about this unauthorized subpoena and told them to ignore it. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
Seaver’s attorneys request in their motion that the court enter an order requiring that they be served a copy of any pleadings or subpoenas in the case by both email and US mail on the same day that the documents are filed, while also requesting an order that only counsel of record for the parties, their staff, or the parties themselves be allowed to request subpoenas in the case:
“The Defendants would submit that given the nature of this case, it is especially important that great care is taken when Subpoenas are issued.”
According to her LinkedIn profile and the company’s website, Hutson is a private investigator with Covert Results, a security company based in Nashville, Tennessee. In an affidavit previously filed by Seaver, he identified Covert Results as the security company that was brought in to replace him as security for the estate:
“SAPS personnel reported seeing Covert Results vehicles watching the properties for approximately two (2) days before the termination. … At the time of the transition, I was informed that Covert Results personnel gave SAPS employees confidentiality paperwork to sign and offered them employment applications.”
What a mess.
The Hospital Incident
The alleged incident in the subpoena isn’t mentioned in any previous filings in the case, so we hadn’t heard anything about it until the subpoena was issued. But according to a report by TMZ, the incident occurred as Seaver arrived at the hospital to coordinate moving Dolly to a funeral home after her death.
Sources close to Seaver say that a discussion ensued, but that there was no “altercation,” and that nothing happened from Seaver that was out of line. They also say that police acted like Seaver was “a fugitive” when he showed up, and he believes officers had already been instructed to keep him away from Dolly – despite the fact that just hours later, he was the one who announced her death to the world.
The Ongoing Lawsuit
things quickly went south just weeks later when the company handling her estate, She’s Alive LLC, terminated Seaver and SAPS and filed a lawsuit requesting a temporary restraining order against Seaver, 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.”
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…”
The estate claims that the attorney later quit due to threats from Seaver.
A judge granted a temporary restraining order against Seaver, who filed a response last week disputing much of what the estate and Nozell claimed in the lawsuit.
In his response, which was obtained and reviewed by Whiskey Riff, Seaver reveals that the comments about “destroying the entire brand” were aimed at Herschend Family Entertainment, the company that operates both Dollywood and Dolly’s new Songteller Hotel. Seaver says that both he and Nozell “shared frustrations with HFE for many years,” and that Nozell also had an “adversarial” relationship with HFE.
Seaver says that he had privately warned Nozell that HFE was destroying Dollywood’s brand, and that after Dolly’s death Nozell and her team had discussed setting up a longform interview for Seaver on a podcast such as Joe Rogan.
He also provided text messages which Seaver says dispute Nozell’s characterization of their exchanges as “threatening,” showing that their conversations remained cordial even after the messages that the estate now claims were threats.
In one conversation with Nozell, Seaver was discussing his newfound fame and points out that he’s not a “media person.”
“I’m literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.”
Nozell “hearted” the message from Seaver, and responded directly to it:
“You should promote that”
Seaver also provides messages from Nozell after the attorney stepped down, which the estate claims was caused by threats from Seaver. But Seaver says that he was told to contact the attorney about an issue getting payment from the estate for his security company, and that while the messages were “impatient and rude,” he later had a call with Pinnacle Bank (which is handling the estate) asking that his company continue providing security for Dolly’s property.
When Nozell told him that the attorneys quit and Seaver inquired as to the reason, text messages show Nozell responded that he didn’t know why:
“I don’t know what the f–k is happening but attorneys are taking a lot of meetings”
Seaver says that he was in Haiti when he was informed that his company had been replaced as security for Dolly’s properties, and that replacement security showed up and began cutting and sawing gates and chains at the property. He says that he advised his employees to “just walk away,” and that the transfer happened without incident.
He is requesting that the judge dismiss the lawsuit and the restraining order, claiming that it’s nearly impossible to keep refrain from contact with anyone who “has or may have” a business relationship with Dolly’s estate, given that many of his family members still work for her companies.
Seaver also claims that his family has been subjected to harassment from the media, and that he doesn’t want the dispute to harm his aunt’s legacy:
“I have declined to speak with the media about this case and have asked my attorneys to handle all media communications. I care about Ms. Parton, her music, her legacy, and her family. I do not want this dispute to harm her legacy.”
It certainly presents a different version of events than what the estate claimed in their lawsuit, and provides much more context than the original complaint and text messages. But ultimately, it’s up to the judge to decide whether to grant the injunction being requested by the estate.
A hearing originally scheduled for November 3 in the case has been pushed back to November 10 by agreement of the parties, after having already been delayed multiple times.
