The lawsuit, obtained by E! News, accused Seaver—who was previously tapped to announce his aunt’s death last month on Instagram—of trying to extort money from her estate through an “obscene, deliberate, and escalating campaign of threats” before and after Dolly’s death. (Dolly had often employed family members, including Seaver’s dad Larry Seaver, who was previously her head of security.)
“They were deliberate threats from a self-proclaimed heavily armed, former security operative with a military-contractor background,” the filing alleged. “Many of these people are now afraid to come to work or have resigned entirely because they do not feel safe.”
In one instance, according to the court documents, Seaver sent a text message to Nozell six days before the “Jolene” singer’s death, threatening to ruin Dollywood’s relationship with a business partner. The message allegedly read, “I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit.”
In another message purportedly sent on Sept. 1, Seaver allegedly said he was going to “set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships,” which Nozell said was meant to “inflict reputational and economic harm on all of those around Ms. Parton.”