Everything We Know So Far

Few artists cultivated and maintained careers and images as immaculately as Dolly Parton. She was, first and foremost, the brilliant singer-songwriter and performer adored all over the world, but also a tireless worker, shrewd entrepreneur, empire-builder, and philanthropist. Everything Parton did was precise, even down to the way the news of her death was announced last month: a pre-recorded video message delivered by her nephew Bryan Seaver, at Parton’s request. 

With such scrupulousness, Parton’s estate seemed primed to avoid the kind of posthumous infighting and chaos that so often consumes these institutions. But one month after her death, that chaos has arrived with Seaver, Parton’s longtime head of security, on one side and Parton’s longtime manager Danny Nozell on the other. So far, a restraining order has been filed and alleged threats have been leveled in an ostensible power play that not only seems to involve control of the Parton empire, but relationships with her many brand partners and, most wildly, private security contractors and alleged multi-million dollar arms deals. 

It’s a lot to unpack, so before a messy situation potentially gets even messier, here’s what we know. 

So who filed this restraining order and why?

She’s Alive, LLC, a corporation tasked with managing Parton’s myriad business ventures, and overseen by Nozell, filed for a restraining order against Seaver on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Brought in Davidson County Chancery Court in Tennessee, the complaint accused Seaver of launching “an obscene, deliberate, and escalating campaign of threats” to extract money from the Parton estate. It also pointedly claimed that there was nothing conventional about Seaver’s security operation, describing it as “a heavily armed, paramilitary-style force capable of projecting threat and coercion against [She’s Alive’s] personnel and business partners.” 

Wait, the kindly looking gentleman with the Santa beard who told the world Dolly Parton was dead oversees a “heavily armed, paramilitary-style force”? 

Allegedly! The complaint specifically focuses on Seaver’s company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS), which according to its website claims to offer services ranging from business intelligence and executive protection to event and estate security. It even boasts its own K9 unit. 

But SAPS is one of several security companies Seaver runs. According to his LinkedIn, he’s also CEO of a company called Fencebridge Strategic Risk and another called the Nightingale Group. Additionally, he serves as a colonel and squadron commander of the Tennessee Rangers, a volunteer group and self-described “select auxiliary constabulary and humanitarian aide organization” that reports to the governor of Tennessee. 

And what exactly did Seaver and his companies do for Parton?

According to the complaint, they provided Parton with “various security services” for about two decades. This appears to have included personal security for Parton, as well as her properties and business ventures. The complaint suggests Seaver and SAPS were deeply embedded in Parton’s world, giving them “an unusually deep understanding of the people, routines, vulnerabilities, and business relationships surrounding Ms. Parton’s enterprise.” 

What about these threats? When did they begin?

The order alleges they began before Parton’s death on Aug. 25. A week before, on Aug. 19, Seaver allegedly sent Nozell a text threatening to “sabotage a core business relationship” between Dollywood, Parton’s famous theme park, and one of its partners. Additionally, it claims Seaver and “his SAPS associates menaced and intimidated” some of the business partner’s own personnel at the new Parton-themed hotel and museum in Nashville. 

The complaint includes several texts Seaver allegedly sent Nozell, including: “I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit.” And, “I’m going to ratfuck every [Dollywood business partner] entity I can possibly conjure.” 

The suit does not name the business partner, nor does it describe Seaver’s alleged issue with them. Parts of the texts also seem to indicate that Seaver thought he was trying to help Nozell. “I’ll earn you more money by virtue of their exit,” he allegedly wrote. “Embarrassment on them at every turn is the answer. Let me keep at them. It costs you nothing. I am your ally. This is a long game you need to start doing on them. The Dollywood brand is dying.”  

So we don’t really know what Seaver is mad about.

Correct, the complaint only suggests that Seaver was out to retaliate against “anyone he believed had crossed his family.” But no objects of his ire are named, whether they be specific people or businesses, nor are there any details about specific tensions or problems.

Still, Seaver’s text messages indicate he was fuming about some apparent wrongdoing. One especially ominous one reads: “I am vengeance for my people for the next 50 years. I have no debt. I only own swords and guns. My children have 3 houses to live in forever. My wife owns everything. All I have is animosity and memory. But I’m going to spend the next time I have on earth ratfucking anyone that has ever betrayed my family.” 

According to the complaint, Seaver was ultimately after money. It claims Seaver “made clear” to Nozell that “his goal was to cause fear and chaos to extort money for his personal gain.” According to one text, Seaver allegedly threatened to “set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us.” Seaver then added, “Or fucking pay me. I don’t have the fucking publishing or anything. I have the actual story.” 

Did Seaver follow through on any of these alleged threats?

If Seaver does have knowledge of any unsavory business dealings, he has yet to disclose them. But the lawsuit does bring up two alleged instances where Seaver’s threats extended to parties beyond Nozell and She’s Alive employees. First, he allegedly “leveled harassing and ominous threats” against one of the lawyers for Parton’s estate and trust, with the complaint describing the threat as “calculated to force counsel to choose between acceding to Mr. Seaver’s demands and facing retaliation.” According to the complaint, the lawyer “terminated her representation” of Parton’s trust.  

Additionally, Seaver allegedly “sent a menacing email” to a music industry lawyer who’d worked with Parton for decades. That one included the eye-popping lines: “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer. I sold 27 million $ worth of ammunition and arms to the Haitian Police on the day Dolly died. Entertainment is not my game. I have spent my entire career breaking things and spying on African and Arab leaders. And protecting Dolly. She hired me to keep errant tour accountants in check. Literally so I would kick the shit out of Northern Irish strong men and Danny wouldn’t get beat up or our bus tires slashed if he argued with them.”

What exactly Seaver wanted from this lawyer is, again, unclear, but it appears he was trying to establish some kind of partnership. The email ends with… let’s just call it not the most enticing invitation, but an invitation nonetheless: “I would appreciate having a dialogue and communication route with you. I expect you know where all the bodies are buried same as me. Let’s have dinner…” 

Yeah, that’s pretty intense but — he sold $27 million worth of ammunition and arms to Haitian police the day Dolly Parton died?

Once more, but probably not for the last time: Allegedly! There’s nothing in the public record right now to indicate there’s any truth to this statement. The Haitian National Police and Seaver did not immediately return requests for comment. 

This also isn’t the only message Seaver sent Nozell in which he mentions the alleged deal. He brings it up while ostensibly boasting about his newfound prominence after announcing Parton’s death. “I just sold 29 million dollars worth of ammo to Haiti,” he allegedly wrote. “I’m not exactly a media person, Danny. I’m literally an international arms dealer and mercenary. But now I’m the face of the biggest social media post in human history.” 

Also, let’s not brush over that whole “spying on African and Arab leaders” thing.

This one, go figure, is also not exactly immediately verifiable. But there is solid evidence of Seaver’s travels to the Middle East and Africa, and evidence that he spent time with real-deal political leaders. To start, the complaint notes that Seaver worked for private military contractors during the Iraq War, and his personal Facebook contains several photos from his time in the region. (Plus one of him and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.) According to his LinkedIn, he worked as a military police officer in the U.S. Army during the late 1990s before joining a private security firm, Phoenix Consulting Group, where he worked from 1999 to 2005.

Seaver’s Facebook also contains images from various trips to Africa for private security gigs. In 2017, for instance, he accompanied journalist Peter Greenberg to Rwanda and “embedded” with officers protecting president Paul Kagame. Other posts indicate a handful of trips to East Africa in the early 2020s, including a 2022 visit to Tanzania, where Seaver said he helped “augment the security” of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Alright. Well. So, uh, it seems like there was reason for She’s Alive and Nozell to take these alleged threats seriously? 

That’s certainly what the complaint indicates. It described Seaver’s alleged actions as “not ordinary workplace disputes or heated words,” but “deliberate threats from a self-proclaimed heavily armed, former security operative with a military-contractor background.” It added that many Parton staffers and partners were “afraid to come to work or have resigned entirely because they do not feel safe.” 

Ultimately, Seaver’s allegedly “terrorizing conduct” led She’s Alive to fire him and SAPS on Sept. 16. Along with noting the employees who “resigned rather than risk retribution,” the complaint claims that She’s Alive has since been “forced to retain private security for its own personnel, including at their homes, to protect against an attack.” 

So, what’s going on now?

On the legal side, She’s Alive’s request for a temporary restraining order was promptly granted on Wednesday, Sept. 23. An injunction hearing has also been scheduled for Oct. 7. 

Seaver, for his part, has not commented on the matter directly, but one of Parton’s sisters, Freida Parton,, did share a statement on Wednesday. On Instagram, she insisted there was “no feud within our family,” adding, “No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate. We all love Bryan, just as we all love each other.”