Dolly Parton’s estate says yellow caution tape and barbed wire crisscrossed the steps to her nephew Bryan Seaver’s front door as a process server was making repeated attempts to serve him with a lawsuit accusing him of using a “campaign of threats” to “extract money” from the late music icon’s business interests.
Lawyers for the estate filed a photo of the alleged barricade as they urged a judge to deny Seaver’s request for additional time to find a lawyer in the messy legal dispute. They also argued that Seaver’s security company missed a deadline last week to challenge an emergency restraining order granted in the case, so the order should therefore be converted into a permanent injunction covering both the company and Seaver himself, as its chief. A hearing on the matter is set for Friday, Oct. 9, unless the court grants Seaver’s request for more time to hire an attorney.
“Mr. Seaver attempted to evade service of process, and this court should not reward that behavior,” the estate’s lawyers wrote in their response filed Monday and obtained by Rolling Stone. They said the company that was set up to manage Parton’s estate after her death, called She’s Alive LLC, tried to serve Seaver on three occasions without success.
On one attempt, the process server observed four cars in the driveway, but no one answered at the front door, the new filing said. “Eventually, Mr. Seaver’s residence had a no-trespassing sign in the front yard and barbed wire draped across the handrails leading to the front door,” the filing alleged.
An attached photo appeared to show the barbed wire strung across the railings of Seaver’s five-step porch, tagged with strips of yellow caution tape and surrounded by a festive selection of pumpkins. Seaver did not respond to a request for comment asking if the display might have been part of his home’s Halloween decorations or potentially served some other purpose.
Seaver’s dispute with Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager and the sole manager of She’s Alive LLC, first spilled into public view when Nozell sued him last month and sought the restraining order. Nozell accused Seaver of interfering with business relationships through “threats, intimidation, and coercion.” In granting the temporary restraining order ahead of the larger hearing, the judge cited a series of emails and other communications that she said appeared to pair “threats with demands for payment.”
Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles of Nashville Chancery Court ordered Seaver to remain 1,000 feet from estate employees and business partners, stay off private property controlled by the estate, and refrain from disruptive or harassing conduct.
Seaver is the relative who announced Parton’s Aug. 25 death in a video posted to her Instagram account, which drew millions of reactions. According to court filings, Seaver previously worked for private military contractors and later provided security for Parton and her properties through his company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS), which is also a party to the lawsuit.
In several messages quoted in the ruling, Seaver allegedly threatened Nozell and other people connected to Parton’s estate.
“I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit,” Seaver allegedly wrote on Aug. 19, about a week before Parton’s death at age 80.
After Parton died, Seaver purportedly wrote in another message: “I just sold 29 million dollars worth of ammo to Haiti. I’m not exactly a media person, Danny. I’m literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.”
Myles wrote that the statements were significant “not merely because of their language in isolation,” but because they accompanied threats directed at specific people and business interests. She cited one message in which Seaver purportedly threatened to start a podcast devoted to damaging Parton’s brand partnerships unless he was compensated. Myles said Seaver also made statements that invoked “his claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate.”
Seaver was removed from his security role connected to Parton’s business on Sept. 15, according to a letter from lawyers for She’s Alive filed in the case. The letter, obtained by Rolling Stone, said the termination did not affect Seaver’s separate interest as a beneficiary of the trust.
“The co-trustees will be in contact with you and the other beneficiaries in the near future regarding your interest as a beneficiary of the Trust,” the letter said. “All parties hope that this will be a smooth transition, and the trust group looks forward to corresponding with you as one of the beneficiaries.”
Myles said Seaver had until Friday, Oct. 2, to respond if he intended to contest the restraining order. When the deadline hit, Seaver asked the court for more time, saying he had “immediately” begun searching for a lawyer after being served but that his “preferred attorney” was not available to meet with him until Monday, Oct. 5.
Lawyers for the estate countered Monday that SAPS, as a corporate defendant, could not represent itself and was required to appear through a lawyer. The judge did not immediately issue a ruling.
In an earlier statement to TMZ, Seaver defended his messages to Nozell, saying they had been taken out of context. “I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments,” he said. “However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by.”
