Dolly Parton’s nephew and former head of security, Bryan Seaver, said he’s “never threatened anyone,” and called a restraining order against him “a publicity stunt.”

Parton’s estate filed a lawsuit against Seaver and his security company via She’s Alive, LLC (SAL), an entity laid out by Parton to protect her legacy, which is operated by her longtime manager, Danny Nozell. The filing alleges Seaver escalated a campaign of threats and intimidation against those in charge of his late aunt’s estate unless he was paid, prompting some employees to resign. That allegedly began weeks before her death on August 25. A filing reportedly states: “Mr. Seaver began his campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion a few weeks prior to Ms. Parton’s passing… 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.’” Seaver received his termination notice on September 16 (which states that his interest in DP Dean Trust remains intact). He’d served in his security role for about two decades.

“The restraining order is spurious and simply a publicity stunt,” Seaver told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday morning (September 23). “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.’

“Dolly called me her killer,” Seaver said in his statement to ABC. “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. I've never threatened anyone ... They are my friends and my brothers and colleagues.” Nozell has not publicly commented on the court filings or Seaver’s statements.

“I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer,” Seaver said as he denied the estate’s claims to TMZ, which was first to report Seaver’s firing earlier this week. According to Seaver, his statements were taken out of context. “However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by. I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster. A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.”

Parton’s representatives announced on Tuesday, August 25 that the “I Will Always Love You” legend “died peacefully” in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80. Seaver also confirmed Parton’s passing at her request in a recorded message from the family. The beloved artist’s team said in a statement to PEOPLE hours later, “after bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones.” Parton has since been laid to rest beside husband Carl Dean, who died in March 2025. He was 82.

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