Dolly Parton’s sister, Freida Parton, has addressed the growing legal dispute between her nephew Bryan Seaver and the late country icon’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, over matters connected to Dolly’s estate.
Freida, 69, said in an Instagram post on Wednesday that the Parton family remained united amid the ongoing litigation, which comes less than a month after Dolly’s August 25 passing.
“I’ll say this and this only: there is no feud within our family,” Freida wrote. “No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate.”
She added a message of affection, saying the family loved Bryan “just as we all love each other,” before concluding: “I love you all!!”
Nozell, who managed Parton for more than two decades, sought a temporary restraining order against Seaver. Seaver previously worked as the singer’s head of security and had been trusted to publicly announce her death last month.
The Daily Mail has contacted Freida Parton, Bryan Seaver, Danny Nozell and Nozell’s lawyer, Timothy L. Warnock, for comment.
Dolly Parton’s sister Freida Parton has spoken out as a legal dispute intensifies between her nephew Bryan Seaver and the late singer’s manager Danny Nozell over Dolly’s estate; Parton and Seaver pictured in 2017
Freida, 69, said in an Instagram post on Wednesday that the Parton family was standing together despite the ongoing court proceedings
According to court papers reviewed by TMZ, Nozell alleged that Seaver demanded money and referenced his claimed background as a military contractor, along with his access to weapons and alleged capacity for violence.
The filing states that Seaver described himself as a “killer” and told Nozell: “All I do is warfare…everyone needs to be worried about what I might do.”
Seaver has rejected those allegations, calling the restraining-order request “spurious” and describing it as “simply a publicity stunt” in a statement to People.
“Dolly called me her killer,” Seaver said, insisting the phrase was an inside joke used by people around the singer. He said Parton referred to him as her “baby boy ninja,” and claimed Nozell had taken the message out of context. “He’s always called me The Killer,” Seaver added.
Nozell filed the request through Parton’s company, She’s Alive, LLC. The documents also state that Seaver had been dismissed from his position overseeing the singer’s security.
In one message cited in the court filing, Seaver allegedly told Nozell: “Her money better be bigger than I can make elsewhere or I’m going to f*** everyone. I am about to become the hand of retribution for my entire family.”
Another communication attributed to Seaver allegedly read: “All I do is warfare … everyone needs to be worried about what I might do.”
The filing also alleges that Seaver planned to launch a podcast aimed at damaging Dolly’s brand partnerships and exposing what he described as violations committed against his family, TMZ reported.
Dolly’s younger sister said the family was not engaged in a feud as the legal dispute continued to unfold
Parton, pictured at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry in 2019, died last month at 80 following a brief, private battle with cancer
Nozell alleged in court documents reviewed by TMZ that Seaver demanded money while referring to his claimed military-contractor work, weapons access and ability to use violence. Nozell said he terminated Seaver on September 15; Parton pictured in Nashville in 2023
Nozell is asking the court to keep Seaver at least 1,000 feet away from Parton’s office and to bar him from contacting the singer’s companies or business associates, according to the report.
Responding to the request on Tuesday, Seaver told TMZ: “I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer.”
‘However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by.’
Bryan said that the texts included in the filing had been published out of context to make it look like he was trying to be intimidating, which wasn’t the case.
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‘I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster,’ Bryan told the outlet. ‘A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.’
Seaver said that one remark – in which he said he was going to ‘rat f***’ an organization whose name was redacted from the report – was ‘about people that have done bad to Dolly in business.’
He added: ‘Those comments were about specific, horrible business partners that have done wrong to her and I stand by that.’
Seaver last week received a notice reviewed by TMZ that he and his security organizations, which provided protection for Parton’s Nashville home, museum and a warehouse, were being replaced by another company.
Nozell (R) requested that the court order Seaver to remain a minimum of 1,000 feet from Parton’s office and to refrain from contacting Parton’s businesses or affiliates, according to the report; Above, Parton and Nozell in LA in 2022
Insiders told the outlet that they believed Parton’s manager Nozell and Pinnacle Bank were responsible for the decision to terminate him and his employees.
A new security team was deployed to the locations previously overseen by Seaver’s companies on Wednesday after the termination notice was issued, according to the report.
Sources close to Seaver said that he and his associates had been ‘dismayed by the unexpected and, so far, unexplained actions’ carried out in the wake of Parton’s passing.
‘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,’ Seaver’s camp told TMZ.
They told the outlet that they believed the actions had been taken ‘with the intent to profit from the life of someone who willingly gave so much.’
According to TMZ, the notice issued to Seaver indicated that the DP Dean Trust had been overseeing Parton’s business and properties in the wake of her passing.
Seaver retains a personal interest in her trust moving forward, according to the report.
Seaver, whose mother Cassie is Parton’s sister, had been appointed by the late Jolene singer to reveal her death in a public statement. Following Parton’s August 25 passing following a battle with cancer, Seaver had been seen in a clip in which he revealed the sad news.
Seaver told TMZ on Tuesday: ‘I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer. However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by’; Above, Parton in Las Vegas in 2022
‘Dolly has lived in the light, and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by [late husband] Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens,’ Seaver said in the emotional clip.
In the clip, Seaver noted that his father Larry had held the security position before him.
He said that he had been her security head for the past ‘two decades,’ and had been working for her over the past four decades.
‘I first went on the road with Dolly as a kid, getting a taste of the road life in the early 1980s,’ Seaver said. ‘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. By her example, we believed that anything was possible.’
He added: ‘She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history. My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you.’
Parton has been well-remembered in the weeks since her passing, during which she received an expansive tribute at the Primetime Emmy Awards last week, which featured Reba McEntire and Sally Field.
Nashville International Airport is set to be renamed in Parton’s memory following a vote from the Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners weeks back.