Dolly Parton's manager withdraws lawsuit against her nephew

Lawsuit withdrawn

The manager of the late country singer Dolly Parton has withdrawn a civil lawsuit against her nephew Bryan Seaver, BBC News reports. The case was brought by She's Alive, the company that manages Parton's business interests, less than a month after the singer's death in August. The lawsuit contained allegations of threats, intimidation and coercion, as well as a request for a temporary restraining order, which the judge granted.

The essence of the dispute

Seaver is the son of Parton's sister Cassie and the owner of the security firm Squadron Augmented Protection Services, which provided security for the singer during the last 20 years of her life. It was he who publicly confirmed Parton's death; she died of cancer at the age of 80. A few weeks later, both he and his company were dismissed from the estate fund. Danny Nozell, the singer's longtime manager and head of She's Alive, accused Seaver in court documents of an obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats after he demanded a payout from the estate; according to the lawsuit, Seaver threatened to harm Parton's brand and business interests and intimidated employees, drawing on his experience as a military contractor.

The defendant's position

Seaver denied all the allegations. In a statement to CBS News, a BBC partner in the US, his lawyers said he was grateful for the opportunity to put this misunderstanding behind him so that the family could mourn their loved one in peace. Earlier, according to a TMZ report cited by the BBC, Seaver described himself as a soldier and military contractor by profession and insisted that he had merely spoken candidly with Danny in private, whom he considered a friend. The withdrawal of the lawsuit removes the legal dimension of the dispute over the estate, but the details of the parties' agreement were not disclosed in the reports.

Image source, Getty Images / Instagram