The Parton family feud is a total beat-up. There’s no fight, no drama, just love.
That’s the word according to Dolly Parton’s younger sister Freida, who has chimed in on the legal battle that’s brewing over the country legend’s estate.
Parton’s estate is said to be suing the late singer’s nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as the artist’s head of security and announced her death this August in an Instagram video.
A lawsuit obtained by Billboard alleges that Seaver has been using threats of violence to try to extort money from Parton’s estate since she died.
Freida Parton reckons it’s not at all what it seems.
“I’ll say this and this only: there is no feud within our family,” the 69-year-old writes on Instagram. “No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate. We all love Bryan just as we all love each other. I love you all!!”
As previously reported, the Sept. 22 lawsuit is being leveled by She’s Alive LLC, a company set up by Parton before her death to handle her posthumous finances and business affairs. It’s run by Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell.
The estate alleges that Seaver, who has a military background, became “emboldened” by Parton’s death and sought to extract money from his aunt’s coffers. Seaver allegedly began making increasingly violent threats in writing, screenshots of which are attached to the court papers.
“I’m a killer,” Seaver allegedly wrote to one of Parton’s attorneys. In a text message to Nozell, he allegedly wrote, “I’m going to spend the next times I have on earth ratf—king anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”
Parton’s estate is seeking a restraining order that would prohibit Seaver from interfering with its business operations and require him to stay at least 1,000 feet away from all personnel. The lawsuit does not seek to cut Seaver out of his inheritance, and the court papers make clear that he’s still a beneficiary of the Parton trust.
Parton died in Nashville on Aug. 25 at the age of 80, leaving a legacy that will be cherished for as long as people listen to music. Named Billboard’s top country artist of all time in 2024, Dolly was a cultural and commercial force. She landed 49 albums in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, the most of any woman, and she landed more No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs chart for a woman artist, with 25. In 1999, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 2022, elevated into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
