When Dolly Parton died, it was her nephew Bryan Seaver who broke the news to the world.
The Queen of Country had long trusted Seaver, the son of her sister Cassie Parton, as her head of security and handpicked him to make the announcement in a widely-shared video.
However, in the weeks since her August 25 death, a series of troubling allegations have led to Seaver being fired from his security role by Parton’s estate.
Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager, filed a restraining order Tuesday against Seaver in a Tennessee court on behalf of She's Alive LLC, the company that now manages Parton’s business empire. The filing claimed that Seaver’s “terrorizing conduct made their continued retention untenable.”
As Variety reported, the filing went on to allege that Seaver threatened Nozell and various other employees in an attempt to extort money, calling himself a “killer” and “literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.” He allegedly added: “All I do is warfare.”
In a statement to TMZ, Seaver denied the allegation that he was attempting to extort money from the estate, but maintained other claims were simply taken out of context.
“I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments,” Seaver told the publication. “I am a security professional and I am a killer.”
He continued: “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.”
Seaver spent more than two decades as Parton’s head of security, succeeding his father Larry Seaver in the role. He runs Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS), LLC, which describes itself as “the premier provider of critical security services in Nashville.”
As a child, Seaver often found himself on tour with Parton. Her 1993 song “Romeo” was reportedly written as a warning to the then-16-year-old Seaver about the dangers of getting his heart broken.
In Nozell’s legal filing, it is alleged that Seaver began a campaign of intimidation in the weeks leading up to Parton’s death in an attempt to obtain significant sums of money.
The documents contain reproductions of text messages allegedly sent by Seaver to Nozell, including one that threatens: “I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit. . . . I’m going to go to Billboard Magazine with my s***. Just like you. I’m going to ratf*** every [Dollywood business partner] entity I can possibly conjure.”
Another allegedly stated: “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer. I sold 27 million $ worth of ammunition and arms to the Haitian Police on day Dolly died. Entertainment is not my game. I have spent my career breaking things and spying on African and Arab leaders. And protecting Dolly.”
A third was claimed to say: “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***ing pay me.”
Another reportedly claimed: “I am vengeance for my people for the next 50 years. I have no debt. I only own swords and guns. My children have 3 houses to live in forever. My wife owns everything. All I have is animosity and memory. But I’m going to spend the next times I have on earth ratf***ing anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”
In a separate statement to ABC News, Seaver described the restraining order against him as “spurious and simply a publicity stunt.”
He again suggested his words had been misconstrued, saying: “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. I’ve never threatened anyone ... They are my friends and my brothers and colleagues.”
Seaver added: “I was fired. After the estate negotiated with me and my company for services in perpetuity and agreed to that service provision from my company. A week later they fired me for these contrived ‘threats.’”
SAPS had been responsible for security at various Parton properties, but footage from last week obtained by TMZ showed replacement guards taking over posts at Parton’s home in Nashville, as well as her museum and warehouse.
Parton died with a net worth of over $450 million, according to estimates.
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