Suit: Parton's Nephew Planned to Smear Legacy

Dolly Parton's nephew was tasked with protecting her estate. According to a new lawsuit, he instead threatened to "destroy the entire brand." Parton's estate entity, She's Alive LLC (SAL), has sued Bryan Seaver, who served as his aunt's head of security for more than 20 years until his firing this month, accusing him of launching a "campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion" beginning weeks before the singer's Aug. 25 death. He allegedly threatened employees with physical and reputational harm, vowing in writing, "I'm not an entertainment person. I'm a killer," according to court documents obtained by People.

The suit claims Seaver, a former military contractor, menaced staff and business partners and threatened to launch a podcast aimed at smearing Parton's brand and wrecking her partnerships unless he was paid. "I'm literally an international arms dealer and mercenary ... Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do," he allegedly wrote to Parton's longtime manager, Danny Nozell, per Billboard. SAL argued employees were "afraid to come to work or have resigned entirely because they do not feel safe" before a judge granted a temporary restraining order on Tuesday. Seaver, who announced Parton's death in a video last month, has publicly accused Nozell and others of acting in bad faith.