Barely a month after Dolly Parton was laid to rest, her estate has erupted into open legal conflict. A Tennessee judge this week granted a temporary restraining order against Bryan Seaver, the nephew who announced Parton's death and served as her head of security for roughly two decades, after her business team accused him of sending a string of threatening text messages in the weeks surrounding her passing.

The order was sought by Danny Nozell, Parton's longtime manager, who runs She's Alive LLC, the entity overseeing her business empire, including Dollywood. According to CBS News, the order requires Seaver and his security firm, Squadron Augmented Protection Services, to stay 1,000 feet away from She's Alive employees, attorneys and business partners, with a full hearing scheduled for October 7. She's Alive terminated Seaver and his company last week.

What the texts allegedly said

Court filings, first detailed by Variety, cite a message dated September 1 in which Seaver allegedly threatened to "set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly's brand partnerships" unless he was paid. The estate's petition reportedly goes further, invoking Seaver's military-contracting background and access to weaponry, and describing him as a "trained military/private-security operative" whose conduct posed a "present and continuing disruption and threat" to the company — language the judge cited in granting the order.

"I WAS HER 'BABY BOY NINJA' AND DANNY NOZELL TOOK THAT TEXT OUT OF CONTEXT TO SOMEHOW IMAGINE THAT I WAS THREATENING HIM." — Bryan Seaver

That's how Seaver has characterized the exchange, insisting the messages amounted to "rage talk" between grieving men rather than a genuine threat, according to reporting from ABC News. He has not formally responded in court filings, and representatives at his Tennessee residence have declined further comment to reporters.

The legal battle has rattled Parton's inner circle. She's Alive says several staff members have resigned since the dispute became public, and the company has hired private security for employees' homes as a precaution.

The fallout has also spilled onto social media, where Parton's sister Freida Parton moved to tamp down speculation of a broader family rift. "There is no feud within our family," she wrote in an Instagram post cited by multiple outlets. "No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly's estate. We all love Bryan, just as we all love each other." Her statement drew a clear line between the corporate dispute playing out in court and the extended family's own relationships, even as the legal fight between the estate and its former security chief heads toward next month's hearing.

With the October 7 hearing still weeks away, both sides appear headed for a more detailed public airing of the allegations — an unusually public and bitter coda to the settling of one of country music's most beloved legacies.