Members of Dolly Parton’s family are denying reports of a rift among the Partons, even as a separate legal dispute involving the country legend’s manager and her nephew played out in a Nashville courtroom this week.
Nearly a month after Parton’s death, her sisters Freida and Stella Parton took to social media to insist there is no infighting among family members over the singer’s estate.
“I’ll say this and this only: there is no feud within our family,” Freida Parton wrote Wednesday on Instagram. “No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate. We all love Bryan, just as we all love each other. I love you all!!”
Stella Parton posted a similar message Thursday, saying the family remains united while grieving both Dolly’s death and the earlier loss of their brother, Denver, who died less than a month before her.
“It has been a comfort to experience such an outpouring of love on [Dolly’s] behalf as we grieve her passing. We are also grieving the loss of our brother Denver who passed less than a month before her. All families have the same struggles since we are all living in this world having a human experience!”
Stella added that the family is “still intact and moving forward” for the sake of their children and grandchildren, and pushed back on how the situation has been portrayed elsewhere.
“Regardless of what you may have seen on different news outlets, we are all doing what you would be doing under the same circumstances, we are living our lives one day at a time and being grateful for every blessing.”
Restraining order granted in Nashville
The family’s statements come after Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, sought a restraining order this week against Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, and Seaver’s private security firm, Squadron Augmented Protection Services. Nozell filed the request in Nashville on behalf of She’s Alive, LLC, the entity Parton created to manage her business affairs, according to The Associated Press.
A Tennessee judge granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday, citing what the order described as a pattern of alleged threats and demands for payment, as well as Seaver’s “claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate.” The judge called the communications “concerning” and pointed specifically to an alleged threat to use force.
The filing followed She’s Alive firing Seaver over what it described as “terrorizing conduct.” Court documents obtained by The Associated Press include text messages and emails allegedly sent by Seaver, including one from Sept. 1 in which he wrote he planned to “set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It’s going to be great. Or f—ing pay me.”
Seaver disputed the characterization of the messages in a statement to TMZ, saying they were taken out of context to make them appear threatening.
Seaver’s company had long provided security for Parton, and it was Seaver who publicly announced her death on Aug. 25.
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.
