Dolly Parton’s nephew says tough talk, not threats, is at the center of a legal fight over his messages about his late aunt’s empire, NBC News reports. In a Nashville court filing, Bryan Seaver disputes claims from She’s Alive—the company guarding Parton’s business interests—that he threatened violence or vowed to “destroy” her legacy, arguing his words were ripped from a private dispute over an unpaid $251,000 security bill tied to Dolly’s downtown hotel and museum. Seaver was Parton’s longtime head of security, the AP reports.
Seaver says his texts to Parton’s longtime manager Danny Nozell, including a vow to start a podcast “ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships” unless his security company was paid, were crude but purely about money and media strategy, not physical harm. He also says references to being an “international arms dealer” reflect legitimate work in weapons brokering, and calls a broad restraining order against him unworkable given his family’s deep ties to Parton’s estate. He said he does not want to harm Parton’s legacy, People reports.