(Reuters) – John Travolta’s
lawyer on Friday hit back at “ridiculous” new claims of sexual advances leveled at the actor by a third
man, as a first accuser backtracked on the date of an alleged Beverly Hills incident.
conference to promote the film "Gotti:Three Generations" in New York in this file photo taken
April 12, 2011. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files
Cruise ship worker Fabian Zanzi claimed on a Chilean
TV show, “Primer Plano,” that the Hollywood star offered him $12,000 to have sex while on a cruise in
2009.
It was unclear whether Zanzi had filed a legal action against Travolta, who is already the
subject of a sexual assault lawsuit by two unidentified masseurs in Los Angeles.
“This is just
another ridiculous claim by someone hopping on the bandwagon to get his 15 minutes of fame with a story
about something that supposedly happened over three years ago,” Travolta’s lawyer Martin Singer said
in a statement on Friday.
“At that time Zanzi’s supervisors did not believe him, confined him
to his cabin and subsequently fired him, according to media reports. Significantly, we never heard of
this guy before. The fact that we are only hearing about him now through tabloid gossip stories three
years later speaks volumes,” Singer added.
Meanwhile, the masseur known as John Doe No. 1 who
filed the first sexual assault lawsuit against Travolta last week was reported on Friday to have
admitted that he got the date wrong of his alleged, unwanted encounter with the actor at the Beverly
Hills Hotel.
Travolta’s lawyers have insisted that the two-time Oscar nominee, who has been
married for 20 years to actress Kelly Preston, was in New York City on the day of the alleged incident
in California. A restaurant receipt and photos have appeared on celebrity websites to bolster their
claims.
Celebrity website RadarOnline.com, quoting unnamed sources close to the case, reported
on Friday that the day on which the alleged Beverly Hills assault took place was earlier than the
original January 16 date stated in the masseur’s lawsuit.
The lawyer for John Doe No. 1 on
Friday, told Reuters in an email that he no longer represented the masseur, and did not return calls
seeking further comment. The new attorney for the plaintiff could not be reached.
A second
masseur, also unidentified, joined the $2 million lawsuit this week, claiming Travolta had touched his
genitals and approached him for sex at an Atlanta hotel on January 28.
Singer has called all the
claims absurd, ridiculous and fictional.
Travolta, 58, is one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars
after roles in “Saturday Night Fever”, “Grease” and “Pulp Fiction”. He also gained worldwide sympathy
when his autistic son Jett, 16, died after a seizure in 2009.
(Reporting By Jill
Serjeant; Editing by Bob
Tourtellotte)