John Travolta delivers pivotal evidence in extortion trial
24 Sep
Posted by celeb as Hollywood Gossip
In testimony of such emotional depth it held a whole Courtroom enthralled, John Travolta has given his first evidence in the case against two defendants charged with extortion after the death of his son.
With his wife, Kelly Preston also in attendance, Travolta, 55, told the hushed courtroom that his son, Jett, had a seizure while on vacation in the Bahamas, and that this was due to his autism; A disease he has never previously acknowledged his son even had.
Barely able to suppress the emotional strain, the actor took several breaths, dabbed at his brow and shifted uneasily in the witness box as recalled the night their male nanny, Eli Wheaton,woke them at 2am to tell them that 16-year old Jett was now lying unconscious on the guest-bathroom floor.
“I immediately ran downstairs with my wife,” The Times reports him as saying. They found Jett motionless and showing no signs of life, “Jeff, the other nanny, was doing chest compressions. I was doing the breathing,” the actor explained.
It was at this point that John – a devout Scientologist – admitted what has been rumored for years, but never confirmed – That his son was autistic. “He suffered from seizure disorder. Every five to ten days he suffered seizures which lasted 45 seconds to a minute,” John revealed.
Scientology does not recognize autism as an illness, and for someone with as high a profile in that church to admit his own son had the illness proves the depth to which both he and his wife this loss. In their first trip to the Islands since the event, both actors arrived on board their private jet from their main home in Ocala, Florida. They were flanked by security and rushed straight inside.
John recalled how Kelly had cradled Jett’s head while he and the nanny worked hard to revive him. Driven by Lightbourne, the ambulance took over half-an-hour to arrive, by which time the two men were using defibrillators to restart Jett’s heart – with no hint of success.
John then asked Lightbourne to take them all to the airport, at which point he was handed the waiver which created this case. He agreed he had signed it, but did not read the details as, “time was so short.” But John then changed his mind and Jett was rushed to an ER. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
Once news of Jett’s death, and John’s Scientology links became public knowledge, Lightbourne, using Bridgewater as his messenger, began the alleged extortion attempt, demanding $25-million not to ‘leak’ that one form.
The testimony which John will deliver over the next few days is said to be so unerringly damming, it could be the key to convicting the two facing trial. The case is ongoing and may last two weeks. If new facts emerge, you’ll find them here.
In further, and wholly superfluous testimony that ‘Reality’ TV is anything but, it’s been announced that former Playmate, Holly Maddison is to get her own show.
The 30-year old former model,who got her ‘break’ when one of Hugh Hefner’s friends saw her working as a Sun-tan oil model and invited her to join a bash at Heff’s mansion, will start filming her new show, ‘Planet Holly’ in Las Vegas [where else?] on October 12th.
“It will have some docu-drama, but it’s the perfect excuse for me to be normal in a light-hearted comedy,” Holly told Contact. “The show will also have an empowering message for women, showing that, however crazy your ideas, they can be achieved.” she gushed.
And being born in darkest Oregon, Holly should know. “I had crazy dreams. I’d see Pamela Anderson or Jenny McCarthy on TV and dream of being a sex symbol and a showgirl in Las Vegas – and it all came true!”
And even though she’s now starring as ‘Bo Peep’ in the nudie review show, “Peepshow” Holly does not seem quite ready to let this get her down, “Just because I’ve wound up in ‘Peepshow,’ I’m not stopping,” she told the scribes. “I’ve set myself five more things to achieve and I will never stop setting new goals because I’m having fun.”
So, she sets herself goals for success which result in the questionable distinction of a skin-show in Vegas, and now she wants to encourage other women to be just like her.
…Somehow I don’t see the logic.
When Baywatch faded out in 1997, Pamela Anderson was at the top of her game – she was beautiful, rich and the world knew her name.
How times have changed.
The 42-year old ex-Playboy model is now being sued for more than $1.2-million by numerous construction companies for work on her Malibu home.
In June, Jay Bruder, who owns one of the firms, filed a $675,000 lien against Pam to recover the costs of ‘labor, materials and subcontractors’ for remodeling her five-bedroom house, and creating foundations for a guest house. “A lot of people are owed a great deal of money,” he told the Star.
Records also show Pam owes $252,360 in unpaid income tax, backdated to 2007.
This doesn’t look good. Pam’s had no serious work since 2006, and although she’s about to open a movie ‘Hollywood & Wine,’ she’s surrounded in that by some serious C-list… so that may not help.
The girl needs either a sit-com or a miracle. Let’s hope she finds at least one…And fast.
We reported a few weeks ago that Eric Dane and his wife, Rebecca Gayheart had made a rather…er, ‘interesting’ tape which got leaked on the ‘net. Well, the pair are still feigning offense and have decided to sue to extend the attention.
Eric – previously best known as ‘Dr. McSteamy’ in ABC’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ – and Rebecca are claiming that Gawker, the blog that first published the tape, has infringed their copyright and they want $1-million…or else.
In the new lawsuit, Marty Singer, Eric’s attorney, says that Gawker was warned about outing the tape, and that such publication would violate his client’s intellectual and privacy rights, but that the site then, “went on to maliciously distribute an uncensored copy” of this very mild tape; Eric, 36, and Becky, 38, briefly appear naked in the 12-minute tape, and also seem to be smoking an unknown preparation. Other than that, it’s ‘PG’ at best.
As for Gawker’s reaction, they don’t seem too stressed; According to People, Nick Denton, the publisher responded via Twitter “To quote the great Marty Singer” he tweeted, “‘If you don’t want a sex tape on the internet, don’t make one!’”
No-one’s reps are yet talking, but this is not over yet — there’s too much free publicity still to be had. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated…
Many people dismissed Miley Cyrus’ recent connection with new boyfriend, Liam Hemsworth as just a phase she’d get over. Well, kids – it looks like that’s not the case.
The pair met in Georgia, on the set of Miley’s upcoming movie, Last Song, and with Summer now gone and most ‘flings’ truly over, their affection shows no signs of fading. Melbourne-born Liam, 19, was in the audience of Miley’s sold-out concert at the Staples Center last night – and not just as a fan, like Ashley Tisdale and Miranda Cosgrove who also showed up.
A well-informed source has told E-Online that Liam is now Miley’s new boyfriend and the pair have been dating for almost three months. And it shows – during her show, Miley got quite gushy about love and affection – And a montage of her and Liam making out was projected behind her throughout the whole spiel.
After the show, the pair adjourned to the Katsu-Ya restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard and still seemed very close.
And what about ex-BF, Justin Gaston, you ask? Don’t fret over him – the man was across town, watching his new lady-friend, Mandy Jiroux and her group, ‘Beach Girl5′ do their thing at the ‘Upper Manhattan’ club on Highland Avenue. A reporter asked Justin why he was not watching Miley instead and the reply was pure class; “I didn’t even know Miley’s tour was in town.”
You can see why she likes Liam so much.
And bad news on the movie – After Miley spent most of the Summer filming ‘Last Song’ on Tybee Island in Georgia, Disney have now pushed the film’s opening back from January 10 to Spring Break. So you won’t see Miss Miley in theaters until April.
Always up for publicity opportunities, Heidi Montag had better be getting prepared for a big date on the calendar!
The “Hills” star will be a guest host on ABC’s “The View” on October 2, taking Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s seat as she’s on maternity leave.
Also picking up guest hosting is “Ugly Betty” star Ana Ortiz, “The Big Bang Theory” star Kaley Cuoco and “American Idol” judge, Kara DioGuardi.
When Heidi and husband Spencer Pratt last appeared on the show in June, she compared herself to Mother Teresa.
Having just recently arrived in Italy, Janet Jackson attended the Armani Fashion Show during Milan Fashion Week on Thursday (September 24).
The 43-year-old took her prime seat as she enjoyed the catwalk exhibit, currently staying in Italy ahead of amfAR chair duties during a charitable fete scheduled for September 28th.
Meanwhile, Armani was short-winded with press during the day’s festivities, letting his new looks do the talking.
During his short time talking with press, he told, “Body Art is a form of physical language, a fusion of performance and gesture, movement that displays an attitude and unleashes creativity.”
Getting a bit of a scare, Jackson Rathbone, also known as Jasper Hale in the Twilight series, was taken to a Vancouver-area hospital yesterday.
Suffering a slight and unidentified injury while rehearsing a fight scene for Eclipse, a spokesperson for Summit confirmed the unfortunate mishap to press.
“As a precaution, he was driven to the hospital and checked out by a doctor. He’s fine and is back at work on the set of Eclipse today.”
And though vampires are invincible, Rathbone won’t be slowing down either. Ashley Greene wrote, “Just got off set. Jackson seems like he’s ok thank God…can’t believe he came to work today! He’s a trooper!”
Continuing about with a busy day in the Big Apple, Jennifer Garner was out in support of the “Make Time for Change” campaign in New York City on Thursday (September 24).
Teaming up with Frigidaire, the former “Alias” actress is hoping to raise support for Save the Children as she spoke at the event held at Gary’s Loft.
“I am proud to be the ambassador for the Frigidaire ‘Make Time for Change’ campaign to help give the littlest Americans the best start possible,” Jen said to the crowd.
Fresh off of an appearance on the Martha Stewart show earlier in the morning, the 37-year-old added, “There is nothing more important to our future than protecting theirs.”
Not letting a highly successful acting career stop her from educational desires, Eva Longoria has announced that she plans to get a Masters degree.
The “Desperate Housewives” beauty will be enrolling in Chicano studies and political science to gain knowledge about her heritage.
Talking about her educational endeavors, Eva told Hola magazine she plans to “learn more about the history of the country we come from.”
While she has yet to announce her college of choice, Miss Longoria currently carried a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Texas A&M.
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