Dolly Parton’s estate accuses nephew Bryan Seaver of using barbed wire to evade lawsuit service
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Dolly Parton’s estate has accused her nephew Bryan Seaver of attempting to evade service of process in a legal dispute involving allegations that he used a “campaign of threats” to “extract money” from the late music icon’s business interests.
Lawyers for the estate filed a photograph showing yellow caution tape and barbed wire across the steps to Seaver’s front door. They are asking a judge to deny his request for additional time to find a lawyer.
Bryan Seaver accused of evading lawsuit service
Lawyers for She’s Alive LLC, the company established to manage Parton’s estate after her death, said a process server made three unsuccessful attempts to serve Seaver.
During one attempt, the server saw four cars in the driveway, but nobody answered the front door.
The estate’s lawyers said Seaver’s residence later had a no-trespassing sign in the front yard and barbed wire across the handrails leading to the entrance.
An attached photograph appeared to show the wire stretched across the railings of Seaver’s five-step porch, alongside strips of yellow caution tape and pumpkins.
“Mr Seaver attempted to evade service of process, and this court should not reward that behavior,” the estate’s lawyers wrote in a response filed Monday and obtained by Rolling Stone.
The dispute began when Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager and the sole manager of She’s Alive LLC, sued Seaver last month and sought an emergency restraining order.
Nozell accused Seaver of interfering with business relationships through “threats, intimidation, and coercion.”
Chancellor I’Ashea L Myles of Nashville Chancery Court granted the temporary order, requiring Seaver to remain 1,000 feet from estate employees and business partners, stay away from private property controlled by the estate, and refrain from disruptive or harassing conduct.
Bryan Seaver’s alleged threats against Dolly Parton estate
According to court filings, Seaver previously worked for private military contractors and later provided security for Parton and her properties through Squadron Augmented Protection Services, or SAPS, which is also a defendant in the lawsuit.
Several messages quoted in the ruling allegedly contained threats toward Nozell and others connected to Parton’s estate.
On August 19, about a week before Parton’s death at 80, Seaver allegedly wrote, “I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit.”
After Parton’s death, he purportedly wrote, “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 said the statements were significant because they accompanied threats directed at specific people and business interests.
She also cited an alleged threat by Seaver to launch a podcast aimed at damaging Parton’s brand partnerships unless he was compensated, along with statements invoking “his claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate.”
Seaver was removed from his security role on September 15, though lawyers said the termination did not affect his separate interest as a beneficiary of the trust.
He was given until October 2 to contest the restraining order but requested more time, saying he had “immediately” searched for a lawyer and that his “preferred attorney” was unavailable until October 5.
The estate argued SAPS could not represent itself and needed a lawyer. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, October 9, unless Seaver receives more time.
