Well that’s an interesting development.
She’s Alive, LLC, the company overseeing the estate of the late Dolly Parton, has filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in its lawsuit against the country legend’s nephew, Bryan Seaver.
The dismissal comes a little over a month after the lawsuit was filed, requesting a restraining order against Seaver and his security company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS).
Seaver had previously served as head of security for his aunt, before being terminated by the estate a month after her death on August 25. The lawsuit accused Seaver of what Dolly’s longtime manager Danny Nozell called a “campaign of threats” and intimidation against the estate:
“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 claimed that the “Dollywood brand is dying” while 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 while referencing money that was owed to his security company:
“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.”
Seaver, meanwhile, has claimed that his messages to Nozell were simply venting to a friend, while expressing their shared frustration with Dollywood operator Herschend Family Entertainment, which also operates Dolly’s new Songteller Hotel in Nashville.
Judge I’Ashea L. Myles of the Davidson County Chancery Court had initially granted a temporary restraining order preventing Seaver and his security company from going within 1,000 feet of any employees of Dolly’s companies or otherwise entering their property, while also ordering him not to make any statements that interfere with the estate’s business relationships.
The dismissal comes a day after the estate had requested yet another extension of their deadline to file a response to Seaver’s reply to the request for a restraining order. (Yeah, I know it’s. confusing: The estate filed their request, Seaver filed his response, and the estate was set to file their reply to his response). The estate filed an agreed order extending their deadline to November 6, but it appears that the judge was growing frustrated after the deadline had already been pushed back multiple times and granted them only until the close of business today, while adding a note to the order that no further extensions would be granted.
As it turns out though, no further extensions were necessary, because the case has now been dismissed.
Now, it should be noted that the dismissal was filed without prejudice, meaning that the estate reserves the right to file the lawsuit again in the future. This could simply be a situation where the estate wasn’t going to have their response filed on time, and rather than missing the deadline or upsetting the judge, simply decided to drop the lawsuit for now.
It could also, however, be the case that both sides were able to reach an agreement and the estate feels that the restraining order against Seaver is no longer necessary.
In a statement from his attorneys, Seaver called the litigation a “misunderstanding” and expressed his hope to continue the legacy his aunt left behind:
“Mr. Seaver is grateful to put this misunderstanding behind him so that the entire family can continue to grieve peacefully and ensure that the bright light of Dolly’s legacy remains completely untouched.”
Hopefully this signals an end to the drama, which is no doubt what Dolly would have wanted.
