Judge grants restraining order against Dolly Parton’s nephew amid lawsuit over alleged threats
By Chris Davis
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) — A Davidson County judge has granted a temporary restraining order against Bryan Seaver, Dolly Parton’s nephew and former head of security, after the company responsible for managing Parton’s business interests alleged he threatened employees, business partners and the country music icon’s brand.
In an order filed Wednesday, Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles found that She’s Alive LLC had demonstrated that “immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage” could occur before Bryan Seaver and his company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS), could respond in court. The court granted the temporary restraining order and scheduled a hearing on a possible temporary injunction for Oct. 7.
In granting the restraining order, the court wrote that the record reflected “an escalating and repeated course of conduct” and pointed to allegations involving threats directed at identifiable people and business interests, statements about access to weapons, alleged demands tied to threatened commercial harm, and evidence that company personnel had altered their conduct due to safety concerns. The order notes allegations that some personnel stopped reporting to work and that additional security measures had been implemented.
Under the judge’s order, Seaver and SAPS are temporarily prohibited from, among other things, interfering with She’s Alive LLC’s business relationships, threatening or intimidating personnel connected to the organization, coming within 1,000 feet of people or entities with business relationships with the company, monitoring their locations and publishing statements intended to interfere with the company’s business relationships.
The lawsuit She’s Alive LLC, a Tennessee entity that court filings say was established under Parton’s estate plan to manage her professional property and business interests, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Davidson County Chancery Court against Seaver and SAPS.
According to the lawsuit, Seaver served as Parton’s head of security for approximately two decades and continued providing security services through SAPS until the company terminated those services earlier this month.
Seaver is also Parton’s nephew and was the family representative who appeared in a video posted to her social media accounts announcing her death.
The lawsuit alleges his conduct became “threatening, destabilizing, and incompatible with any safe working environment.”
The lawsuit alleges Seaver threatened to damage business relationships connected to Parton’s entertainment empire, including Dollywood and various brand partnerships. Among the exhibits attached to the lawsuit is a text message in which Seaver allegedly wrote: “I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these out of our bit.”
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