{"id":609861,"date":"2026-09-24T03:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T03:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/609861\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T03:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T03:32:13","slug":"dolly-partons-estate-granted-restraining-order-against-singers-nephew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/609861\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton’s estate granted restraining order against singer’s nephew"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Tennessee judge granted Dolly Parton’s estate<\/a> a temporary restraining order<\/a> Thursday against the late singer’s nephew Bryan Seaver and his private security company.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s Alive, the entity founded to manage and protect Parton\u2019s estate<\/a>, had filed the complaint against Seaver and Squadron Augmented Protection Services a day prior. The estate accused Seaver of threatening to commit violence and destroy his aunt\u2019s legacy and business empire<\/a> in court filings.<\/p>\n

The order says the court took into account the repeated threats cited in the complaint, as well as the alleged demands for payment and Seaver\u2019s claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate”. It describes the communications as “concerning,” specifically noting the threat to use force.<\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/p>\n

Dolly Parton performs on NBC’s Today show in 2014. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

As part of the order, Seaver and SAPS must refrain from entering any She’s Alive property or talking with or being within 305m of She’s Alive employees, attorneys and business partners. The order is also meant to keep him from interfering with its business relationships.<\/p>\n

A hearing is scheduled for October 7.<\/p>\n

Seaver, who owns a company that provided Parton\u2019s security detail and was handpicked by the star to announce her death from cancer last month, did not respond to an email Wednesday from The Associated Press requesting comment on the order being granted.<\/p>\n

Her nephew announces to the world that the beloved country star passed after a brief battle with cancer. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Representatives for SAPS also did not respond, and no one was present at their office in downtown Nashville on Wednesday afternoon. No one came to the door at an address listed in court documents for Seaver in the semi-rural Nashville suburb of Fairview. A woman speaking to a reporter through a doorbell camera declined to comment.<\/p>\n

In the temporary restraining order request filed by She\u2019s Alive and other court documents, Seaver is accused of sending increasingly threatening messages over the last several weeks. She\u2019s Alive is run by Danny Nozell, Parton\u2019s longtime manager.<\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/p>\n

Dolly Parton speaks to a audience gathered to celebrate the expansion of the Imagination Library of Kentucky. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Last week, She\u2019s Alive terminated Seaver and SAPS, saying his “terrorising conduct made their continued retention untenable,” according to court documents. The company is also named in the complaint.<\/p>\n

The court documents showcase a series of text messages and emails She’s Alive says were sent by Seaver, starting just before Parton’s death. The messages begin with threats to destroy Parton’s brand, and then after her death, depict Seaver reveling in his newfound fame and calling himself an \u201cinternational arms dealer.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one message written September 1 and included in the court documents, he said: “I’m going to set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly\u2019s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It\u2019s going to be great. Or f****** pay me.”<\/p>\n

Seaver also claimed that he worked for private military contractors overseas during the Iraq War and used that experience as part of these threats, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

The messages have resulted in Parton\u2019s trusts and estates attorney leaving and employees of She’s Alive resigning, according to the court documents. The entity has also had to hire private security for its employees, including at their homes, the documents state.<\/p>\n

Kristin Mumford, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said in an email that there are no reports against Seaver in their system.<\/p>\n

Parton<\/a> wrote hundreds of songs,<\/a> including classics<\/a> like Jolene, Coat of Many Colours and I Will Always Love You, that earned a total of more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including two people rescued from the bottom of a cliff, how AI might kill us all, and the dramatic moment two military pilots eject from their plane. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Tennessee judge granted Dolly Parton’s estate a temporary restraining order Thursday against the late singer’s nephew Bryan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,67,156,157,111,139,64,69],"class_list":["post-609861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north-america","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}