The feud over Dolly Parton’s estate is reaching a boiling point.
Bryan Seaver, Parton’s nephew and former head of security, has allegedly surrounded his stoop and front door with barbed wire and yellow caution tape. The estate, which sued Seaver for an alleged “campaign of threats” and extortion on Sept. 22, is now claiming the wire was Seaver’s attempt to stop a process server who repeatedly attempted to serve him.
Lawyers for the estate urged a judge to deny Seaver’s request for additional time to find a lawyer in the legal dispute. In their filing, they included a photo of the barbed wire strung across the railings of Seaver’s five-step porch, laden with strips of yellow caution tape and surrounded by a festive display of pumpkins.
“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.
Courts granted Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager who helms the estate, a temporary restraining order against Seaver on Sept. 23. In their latest filing, the estate’s lawyers claimed that Seaver’s security company missed a deadline last week to challenge the order; they argue the order should therefore become a permanent injunction covering both the company and Seaver himself as its chief. A hearing will take place Oct. 9, unless the court grants Seaver’s request for more time to hire an attorney.
The lawyers also wrote that She’s Alive, LLC, which Parton created to protect her legacy, tried and failed three times to serve Seaver. On one attempt, the process server reported that nobody answered the front door despite four cars in the driveway.
“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.
The estate’s Seaver saga began when Nozell fired Seaver and removed his security teams from Parton’s properties on Sept. 16. Parton died on Aug. 25 at 80, and Seaver was chosen to announce her death in a video.
Nozell included text and email exchanges between himself and Seaver as evidence of threats. The messages show Seaver allegedly touting his position.
“I’m literally an international arms dealer and mercenary,” the messages show Seaver saying. “All I do is warfare. Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do,” and “Her money better be bigger than I can make elsewhere or I’m going to f--- everyone.”
Seaver later said that he was just “grieving” and denied Nozell’s accusations of threats and extortion. He also said he and his team “remain unshakably resolved” to protect the Parton family and “refuse to be intimidated” by Nozell’s actions.
“I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer,” he said. “However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by.”
