( 4UMF NEWS ) John Travolta Sued By Cruise Worker:
A former cruise line worker has filed a federal lawsuit claiming John Travolta assaulted him with a naked, full-mast hug on the high seas.
Fabian Zanzi is seeking unspecified damages and follows two similar but recently withdrawn sexual battery lawsuits filed by masseurs in Beverly Hills and Atlanta.
Travolta vehemently denied Zanzi’s legal claims Monday as his latest movie “Savages,” an Oliver Stone thriller co-starring Benicio Del Toro and Blake Lively, was set to premiere in Los Angeles.
“This is another ludicrous lawsuit with inane claims,” Travolta’s lawyer Marty Singer said in a statement. “It is obvious that Mr. Zanzi and his lawyers are looking for their 15 minutes of fame.”
Zanzi, who lives in Chile, gained headlines last month after he told a Chilean news program that Travolta, 58, accosted him when he delivered a meal to the “Pulp Fiction” star’s private cabin aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship on June 9, 2009.
Zanzi said the actor motioned to an area behind his neck, apparently complaining about the label tag of his bathrobe, according to the federal lawsuit first obtained by Courthouse News.
When Zanzi reached for the neck area to help, Travolta shed the robe and “forced his naked person and his erect penis” against the unsuspecting ship worker, the lawsuit states.
“Travolta stated to (Zanzi) that he was beautiful and asked (him) to ‘take me, I will take care of you, please,’” the lawsuit claims.
Zanzi said the superstar offered him $12,000 for his “discretion and silence,” and that Zanzi was confined to a room for five days by his superiors when he complained about the incident.
The former ship employee, who states he is currently receiving treatment for ongoing and “severe” emotional distress, said a superior “refused” to allow him to write down any information about the alleged sexual contact in a report.
Travolta’s lawyer seized upon the lack of a written documentation.
“In his handwritten report three years ago, the only physical contact he claimed occurred was allegedly touching my client’s neck,” Singer said. “The inappropriate conduct he alleges in his lawsuit is absent from his written report he submitted at the time. That glaring omission speaks volumes.”
