Dolly Parton's nephew 'used barbed wire' to evade legal summons
Dolly Parton's estate has accused her nephew and former head of security, Bryan Seaver, of deliberately evading legal summons.
Dolly Parton's estate has claimed her nephew used "barbed wire" to evade legal summons.
Bryan Seaver, who has denied all allegations against him after being fired last month as the late country icon's head of security, is in a legal battle with her estate over accusations of making "chilling" threats referencing his military background.
She's Alive, the company Dolly established to protect her business interests after her death, has claimed he has used extreme measures to avoid summons.
On October 2, Seaver asked the court to delay a hearing scheduled for Friday (09.10.26) to allow him to find a lawyer to represent him.
The request was granted with the heaving pushed to October 20, but in documents seen by PEOPLE magazine, She's Live has accused him of trying to "evade service of process".
The company alleged that they have attempt ed to serve Seaver his summons on three separate occasions.
They claim that the second time, there were four cars in his driveway, but no one answered the door.
They continued: "Eventually, Mr. Seaver’s residence had a no-trespassing sign in the front yard and barbed wire draped across the handrails leading to the front door."
The company has urged the court to treat Seaver's claims about his immediate search for legal council "with considerable scepticism".
They said: "He waited until the last moment to take any action, and the court should not reward that behavior.
“Moreover… Mr. Seaver already has lawyers who appear to be anxious to represent him.”
Dolly's manager, Danny Nozell, had filed for the restraining order on behalf of She's Alive, alleging Bryan had threatened him and attempted to extort him.
Bryan previously dismissed the case as a "publicity stunt".
Responding to the lawsuit, he told ABC News in a statement: "The restraining order is spurious and simply a publicity stunt."
He confirmed he had been fired, but added: "I was fired.
"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.'"
In documents obtained by People magazine, it was alleged Bryan began a "campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion a few weeks prior to Ms. Parton's passing".
The filing continued: "In writing, he vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand’ and also told her entertainment attorney: “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.' "
In response, Bryan denied the allegations and insisted his text had been taken "out of context".
He added: "Dolly called me her killer. It was a joke we used around her camp.
"I was her 'baby boy ninja' and Danny Nozell took that text out of context to somehow imagine that I was threatening him. He’s always called me The Killer."
