Dolly Parton’s fired nephew says he ‘never threatened anyone,’ calls restraining order a ‘publicity stunt’
Dolly Parton’s fired nephew says he ‘never threatened anyone,’ calls restraining order a ‘publicity stunt’
Daysia TolentinoWed, September 23, 2026 at 8:36 PM UTC
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Bryan Seaver; Dolly Parton; Danny NozellCredit: Dolly Parton/Instagram; Jason Kempin/Getty; Lester Cohen/GettyKey Points -
Bryan Seaver, nephew of Dolly Parton and her longtime head of security, denied threatening representatives of her estate, calling them “my friends and my brothers and colleagues.”
Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, filed a lawsuit against Seaver alleging that he had been “threatening” people from the estate. He also requested a temporary restraining order.
Seaver called the TRO “spurious and simply a publicity stunt.”
Bryan Seaver, nephew of Dolly Parton and her longtime head of security, is denying claims that he threatened representatives of her estate.
Seaver, who is the son of Parton’s sister Cassie, was recently dismissed from his position. He said the move came after the estate negotiated a deal with him and his companies to provide security services.
“I was fired,” he told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday. “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.’”
On Tuesday, Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager, filed a lawsuit against Seaver alleging that he had been “threatening” the late singer’s estate and “those associated with Miss Parton’s legacy.”
Entertainment Weekly reached out to representatives for Seaver and Nozell for comment.
Nozell also sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Seaver on behalf of the estate, accusing him of launching a “campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion” beginning in the weeks before Parton’s death. The restraining order was granted.
Dolly Parton and Danny Nozell in 2014Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty
Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security for two decades, slammed the restraining order, calling it “spurious and simply a publicity stunt” in his statement to ABC News.
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In his legal motion for a TRO, Nozell claimed that Seaver “threatened that ‘[e]veryone needs to be worried about what I might do.’” He also alleged that the veteran security provider told Parton’s entertainment attorney: “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.”
Seaver claimed that Parton used to affectionately call him “her killer,” a fact he accused Nozell of twisting in the lawsuit.
“Dolly called me her killer. It was a joke we used around her camp,” Seaver said. “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.’”
Dolly Parton speaks onstage during Kicking Off CMA Fest: A Special Conversation With Dolly Parton Hosted By Rachel Smith at Music City Center on June 6, 2024Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty
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The Grammy winner’s nephew denied making threats to any representative of the estate, saying, “I’ve never threatened anyone. They are my friends and my brothers and colleagues.”
Seaver was the family member to announce Parton’s death on Aug. 25. The “Jolene” singer died at the age of 80 from cancer. He shared the news in a video posted to her official accounts.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Seaver said in the clip. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven’t truly felt it until now. It is an honor, an honor mixed with absolute pride and great sadness.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
