Dolly Parton’s sister has shared a statement denying that there is any family “feud”, following news that the singer’s nephew was fired and hit with a restraining order.
Bryan Seaver is the nephew of the country music icon, who passed away last month, and served as her long-time head of security. He was also the person who made the video announcement confirming her death.
On Tuesday (September 22), the corporation in charge of managing Parton’s business ventures, She’s Alive, filed a restraining order against Seaver. They accused him of launching “an obscene, deliberate, and escalating campaign of threats” to extract money from the Parton estate (via The New York Times).
The court filing also reportedly included text messages, allegedly from Seaver, that were “harassing and ominous threats” against Dollywood business partners. He also allegedly told She’s Alive’s manager, Danny Nozell that he would make his own podcast that would be “dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us”.
Nozell fired Seaver on September 15, according to Variety and also filed a restraining order.
In a statement to TMZ about the lawsuit, Seaver said that he “stands by” most of the comments he made, and alleged that they have been taken out of context.
“I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny, who I thought was my friend,” he continued. “A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.”
He also told ABC News that “the restraining order is spurious and simply a publicity stunt.”
“I was fired,” he added. “After the estate negotiated with me and my company for services in perpetuity and agreed to that service provision from my company. A week later they fired me for these contrived ‘threats’.”
Now, Dolly’s sister Freida has said there is no “feud” within the family following the legal action between the late singer’s estate and her nephew.
“I’ll say this and this only: there is no feud within our family,” she posted on Instagram. “No-one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate. We all love Bryan, just as we all love each other. I love you all!!”
A lawyer for She’s Alive has not responded to requests for comment from outlets including Rolling Stone at time of writing.
News of Dolly’s death rocked the music world when it emerged last month. Though she had previously told fans she was dealing with some health issues that she “didn’t pay attention to” while looking after late husband Carl Dean, the public had no idea of her cancer diagnosis, which her sister later explained was because “she did not want people sad”.
Earlier this month, she posthumously accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Americana Honors & Awards, appearing in a pre-recorded video clip at the event.
The NME obituary for Parton concluded: “Resplendent in her rhinestone suit, she embodied both qualities as a unifying icon. The world has become more divided since that set, but everyone will always love Dolly.”
