Dolly Parton‘s nephew Bryan Seaver is clearing the air amid drama with her estate.

After Parton’s manager Danny Nozell alleged in a restraining order request Seaver had threatened him following his firing as head of security for the country singer’s estate, the late singer’s relative spoke out to defend his name.

“The restraining order is spurious and simply a publicity stunt,” Seaver told ABC News in a Sept. 23 statement, denying Nozell’s allegations that he threated him and his associates. “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,” he continued. “A week later they fired me for these contrived ‘threats.'”

In court documents obtained by E! News, Nozell alleged Seaver “began invoking his self-proclaimed military-contractor experience, access to weapons, and capacity for violence to extort” Parton’s estate for money shortly before the Grammy winner’s Aug. 25 death.

“Those threats continued after her passing,” Nozell continued in his filing, saying that Parton’s estate “was forced to terminate Mr. Seaver” when his conduct allegedly “became threatening, destabilizing, and incompatible with any safe working environment.”