A feud over Dolly Parton’s sprawling estate spilled into the open on Tuesday when her longtime manager accused her nephew and former security detail of threats, extortion and intimidation.
Mr. Seaver, who delivered the news of Ms. Parton’s death from cancer in a filmed video last month, was fired as head of security for her properties last week. In the court papers filed on Tuesday, he is accused of mounting “an obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats” to obtain money from the Parton estate.
In an exchange on Sept. 3 with a longtime lawyer of Ms. Parton’s, Mr. Seaver described himself as a “killer” and said that on the day his aunt died, he had sold $27 million in arms and ammunition to the Haitian police.
The request for a restraining order was filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville by She’s Alive, a corporation responsible for overseeing Ms. Parton’s many business endeavors. It is run by Danny Nozell, her longtime manager.
The proposed order would keep Mr. Seaver from the company’s properties and staff, as well as block him from having any contact with individuals that do business with She’s Alive. The company also filed a lawsuit accusing Mr. Seaver of tortious interference and seeking an unidentified amount of damages.
Mr. Seaver and his outside security company had long overseen protection for Ms. Parton and her properties. According to the complaint, “it was important to her to employ her family members when they had skill sets compatible with her business needs.”
Mr. Seaver told Mr. Nozell, according to the text messages, that he would “set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us.”
For more information see Emily Cochrane & Julia Jacobs “Dolly Parton’s Estate in Turmoil After Extortion Accusations” The New York Times, September 22, 2026.