Dolly Parton’s nephew accused of using barbed wire to evade being served
Dolly Parton’s estate has accused her nephew Bryan Seaver of using barbed wire, yellow caution tape and “no trespassing” signs to barricade his property in an attempt to evade being served with a lawsuit.
The lawsuit, viewed by The Associated Press, the New York Times and People, accuses Seaver of threatening to commit violence and destroy his late aunt’s legacy and business empire, while asking a judge to keep him away from its employees and business dealings.
In a new court filing, viewed by NBC News and People, lawyers for Parton’s estate included images showing the “no trespassing sign” in Seaver’s front yard, barbed wire and caution tape wrapped around the handrails leading to his front door.
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Global News has not independently viewed the court filing.
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The photos were part of a court filing urging the judge overseeing the case to deny Seaver’s request for additional time to retain a lawyer ahead of a temporary injunction hearing that was set take place on Friday, NBC News reports.
Seaver, who announced the country singer’s death in August in a social media video, had filed a motion on Oct. 2 in a Tennessee court asking for the hearing to be delayed 10 days because he was representing himself.
Seaver’s motion, viewed by The Associated Press, said “the defendants lack any legal knowledge or skills to proceed in this matter without retained counsel or what, if any, challenges can or should be raised.”
It claimed the delay is necessary because the lawyer Seaver wanted to represent him could not meet with him until Oct. 5, and said he won’t object to the restraining order being extended until a new hearing date.
Seaver’s request was granted by a judge on Oct. 6 and the hearing was pushed to Oct. 20, People reports.
Parton’s estate, She’s Alive LLC, had reportedly asked the court to deny Seaver’s motion, claiming that Seaver “attempted to evade service of process, and this court should not reward that behavior.”
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She’s Alive, run by Parton’s longtime manager Danny Nozell, also claimed that they’d attempted to serve Seaver his summons three different times.
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Last month, She’s Alive terminated Seaver and his company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services, saying his “terrorizing conduct made their continued retention untenable,” according to court documents, viewed by The Associated Press.
“Mr. Seaver began his campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion a few weeks prior to Ms. Parton’s passing…. In writing, he vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand’ and also told her entertainment attorney: ‘I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer,'” the filing alleged.
The Associated Press reports that Seaver sent text messages and emails to She’s Alive revelling in his newfound fame and calling himself an “international arms dealer.”
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In one message written on Sept. 1 and included in the court documents, he said: “I’m going to set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It’s going to be great. Or f——- pay me,” The Associated Press reports.
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Seaver reportedly claimed that he worked for private military contractors overseas during the Iraq War and used that experience as part of the threats against She’s Alive, according to the complaint.
Seaver’s alleged messages have resulted in Parton’s trusts and estates lawyer leaving and employees of She’s Alive resigning, according to The Associated Press.
In another alleged message, Seaver said that Nozell had been his longtime confidant and “best friend.”
“I trusted Danny,” Seaver wrote, according to The New York Times, “And that’s what those messages were, two friends and brothers commiserating on the people that have screwed Dolly over for many many years.”
In a statement shared with TMZ on Sept. 21, Seaver said he and his teams were “dismayed by the unexpected and, so far, unexplained actions” since Parton’s death.
“We remain unshakably resolved to fulfill her final directive to protect her family, and we refuse to be intimidated by those whose actions we believe are being taken in bad faith and with the intent to profit from the life of someone who willingly gave so much,” Seaver and his team said in the statement.
After the legal battle between Seaver and Parton’s estate began, the country icon’s sister, Freida Parton, took to Instagram, writing, “I’ll say this and this only: There is no feud within our family.”
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“No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate. We all love Bryan, just as we all love each other,” she wrote on Sept. 23.
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On Aug. 25, Seaver announced Parton’s death in a video, saying, “I am representing the Parton and Owens family today, announcing the passing of my Aunt Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean. Sister, sis, Aunt Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next. This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.”
“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 honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly.”
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“I first went on the road with Dolly as a kid, getting a taste of the road life in the early 1980s. Dolly opened doors, not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible. Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent,” he said.
“Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever,” Seaver added.
—With files from The Associated Press
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