Bryan Seaver is asking a judge to postpone the restraining order hearing filed against him by Dolly Parton’s estate.
Seaver, who served as the late country star’s head of security for more than two decades before being fired in September, filed a motion Friday in Tennessee requesting that an Oct. 9 hearing be pushed back by approximately 10 days, according to documents. The 47-year-old, who announced Parton’s Aug. 25 death at age 80, is currently representing himself in the matter.
In his motion, Seaver noted that “the defendant’s lack any legal knowledge or skills to proceed in this matter without retained counsel or what, if any, challenges can or should be raised.” He claimed that a lawyer he hopes to retain cannot meet with him until Oct. 5, and stated that until a potential new court date, he won’t object to the restraining order being extended. The judge has not yet responded to the request.
Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, filed the restraining order against Seaver last month, alleging that Seaver had been threatening him and attempting to extort him for money. Per documents, Nozell alleged Seaver had “invok[ed] his self-proclaimed military-contractor experience, access to weapons, and capacity for violence” to extort money.
She’s Alive, LLC, Parton’s management company, also filed a lawsuit alleging her nephew had sent threatening texts to employees calling himself an “international arms dealer and mercenary” and allegedly declaring himself “a killer.” The management company further claimed Seaver promised to “destroy the entire brand” and “ratf–k every entity,” and alleged he warned, “Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do.”
Seaver pushed back against the allegations in comments to the outlet, insisting that there had been “unexpected and, so far, unexplained actions” since the Grammy winner’s death. He also claimed that “nothing” in the lawsuit qualified as “threats,” adding, “Most of the comments I stand by.”
Seaver continued, “I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster.”
A resurfaced police report from 2000 added another dimension to Seaver’s history. According to a document on Friday, Seaver was reportedly arrested for assault following an alleged incident at Banana Joe’s bar in Nashville on Oct. 6, 2000. Per the report, an alleged victim told authorities Seaver unsuccessfully attempted to “take a swing at him” after being informed he could be thrown out of the establishment. Though Seaver was taken into custody, the case was ultimately dismissed.
Seaver announced his famous aunt’s death in an emotional Instagram video on Aug. 25, saying that though he’d “imagined the heaviness” of the moment, he hadn’t “truly felt it until now.” In the Reel, Seaver noted that he’d been Parton’s head of security “for more than two decades,” adding that his father held the role before him.
“It is an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness,” he said. “But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly.”
Seaver claimed the announcement was something his aunt “asked of [him] years ago, before [he] fully absorbed it as a future reality,” He added in part, “My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you.”
The firing of Seaver from his security role came just weeks after Parton’s death and his public announcement of it, marking a dramatic rupture in a family employment relationship that had spanned generations. The current legal battle pits Parton’s nephew against the very management team that helped build her empire, with Seaver now scrambling to secure legal representation before the rescheduled hearing.
