All posts containing the tag: "Jett"
Posted Oct 6th 2009 12:55PM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta's lawyer just dropped a huge bombshell in open court -- dude just spit out a movie quote from "A Few Good Men."
It all went down after the people accused of extorting Travolta tried to turn the tables -- claiming Travolta's lawyer was the person who actually hatched the extortion plot.
But Travolta's lawyer, Michael McDermott, was furious -- and fired back, "You can't handle the truth! You can't handle the truth!"
The lawyer for the alleged extortionists replied, "You've watched 'A Few Good Men,' huh?"
The drama continues...
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: extortion, jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tapes, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne
Posted Oct 5th 2009 7:55AM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta has not broken from Scientology, contrary to recent reports ... this according to sources connected to John.
Travolta testified in the Bahamian extortion case that his late son, Jett, was autistic. Until his testimony, Travolta never publicly acknowledged Jett's illness.
Travolta's silence on autism in years past was consistent with Scientology's unofficial position on the subject.
We're told some Scientology bigwigs are unhappy with John's recognition of Jett's condition, but Travolta remains "firmly committed" to the Church. In fact, we're told, he has used Scientology as "therapy" in trying to cope with Jett's death.
John, we're told, has never had his faith in Scientology shaken in the months following his son's death.
Filed under: John Travolta, Exclusives
Tags: autism, church of scientology, ChurchOfScientology, death, jett, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, psychological illness, PsychologicalIllness, scientology
Posted Oct 1st 2009 12:01PM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta's lawyer just testified the whole extortion plot was hatched because one of the defendants was starstruck.
Michael McDermott testified he got the call from Pleasant Bridgewater ten days after Jett died. He said Pleasant told him her client had a "Refusal of Transport/Treatment" document signed by Travolta and felt it was worth a lot of money.
Now get this: McDermott said Pleasant said her client, paramedic Tarino Lightbourne, had kept the document instead of turning it in ... because it was "signed by a celebrity."
McDermott said Tarino shopped the document -- which Tarino proved Travolta either intentionally killed his son or recognized he was negligent in the supervision of the child.
Tarino thought the doc was firm evidence Travolta wanted to flee the jurisdiction with his son's dead body.
McDermott said Pleasant told him ... "put it this way, the doc can be John's or the world's."
McDermott says Bridgewater acknowledged it was extortion, but Tarino didn't care.
Filed under: John Travolta
Tags: document, jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, lawyer, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, testify
Posted Sep 29th 2009 10:20AM by TMZ Staff
The two defendants in the John Travolta extortion case are in deep trouble today -- the jury will see and hear the secret tapes which authorities say is the smoking gun.
Authorities say the secret police video shows the $25 million extortion plot in all it's glory.
Lawyers for Tarino Lightbourne and Pleasant Bridgewater tried keeping the video from the jury but the judge saw it differently.
We'll let you know how it goes down.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: bahamas, extortion, extortion trial, ExtortionTrial, jett, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne
Posted Sep 24th 2009 1:00AM by TMZ Staff
Secret police videos have captured the alleged extortionists in the John Travolta case in deep conflict ... with one defendant accusing the other of trying to settle way too cheap -- this according to law enforcement sources.
As we first reported yesterday, authorities have at least two videos of paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and attorney Pleasant Bridgewater demanding millions of dollars from John Travolta's lawyers, in return for not making a document public.
Our sources say Bridgewater is caught on tape demanding many millions of dollars, but another video shows Lightbourne outraged that Bridgewater demanded what he considered such a paltry sum. His demand was exponentially higher than hers, law enforcement sources tell TMZ.
We're told the videos show them haggling over money -- and although it's been reported the pair allegedly demanded $25 million, we're told they finally agreed to $15 mil.
We're also told lawyers for Bridgewater and Lightbourne will make a motion today to suppress the videos, on grounds they were illegally recorded.
And there's a sticky problem -- we're told one of the key Bahamian cops in the video sting was seriously injured "under suspicious circumstances" and is unable to testify.
Travolta has not finished testifying. We're told he has left the Bahamas and will return next week to complete his testimony.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta, Exclusives
Tags: bahamas, extortion, extortion plot, ExtortionPlot, jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, millions, money, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, secret video, SecretVideo, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, testimony, video
Posted Sep 23rd 2009 12:34PM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta made his first public statement acknowledging Jett had autism.
Travolta told the jury in the Bahamas extortion case that Jett was autistic and suffered seizures every 5 to 10 days. Travolta said, "He was autistic. He suffered from a seizure disorder."
Travolta testified the seizures would last 45 seconds to a minute.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: admits, autism, extortion, jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, seizures, son
Posted Sep 19th 2009 11:00AM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has confirmed John Travolta will testify next week at the extortion trial involving the death of his son, Jett.
Travolta will travel to the Bahamas to testify on behalf of the prosecution. Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former politician Pleasant Bridgewater allegedly demanded $25 million in return for not going public with a document which authorized paramedics to take 16-year-old Jett to a hospital via ambulance after suffering a massive seizure.
We're told Travolta and wife Kelly Preston are outraged by the alleged extortion plot which authorities say was concocted shortly after Jett's death.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: 25 million, 25Million, bahamas, death, extortion, extortion plot, extortion trial, ExtortionPlot, ExtortionTrial, jett, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, kelly preston, KellyPreston, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, seizure, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, trial
Posted Jul 13th 2009 7:33AM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta flew himself in and out of Miami this weekend, stopping briefly to enjoy a cheeseburger and fries.
Filed under: Paparazzi Photo, John Travolta
Tags: jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, miami, pilot
Posted Jan 3rd 2009 12:36PM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has learned what may have killed Jett Travolta, and it's not what police have suggested.
We've spoken with John Travolta's lawyer and close friend, Michael McDermott, and family attorney Michael Ossi, both of whom are with John in the Bahamas. They tell TMZ it appears Jett's fatal injury was the result of hitting his head on the bathtub, toilet seat, or both. And they say the intimation that Jett went undiscovered for hours is absolutely false.
Police have said the last time anyone saw Jett was when he went to the bathroom on January 1. His body was discovered by nanny Jeff Kathrein the next day at 10 AM. In fact, McDermott and Ossi say it appears Jett went back and forth to his room and the fatal injury occurred "very shortly" before Jett was found on the bathroom floor -- McDermott called it a "small window of time."
McDermott and Ossi tell us two nannies were present on the trip and Jeff was by his side 24/7. There was a baby monitor device by Jett's side and there was also a chimer in the bathroom when the door opened.
McDermott and Ossi say it is still unclear if Jett fell to the floor as a result of a seizure or if he had a seizure after falling or slipping. There was blood on the floor of the bathroom, but "not a tremendous amount." It appears the striking of Jett's head was the cause of death, though it won't be clear until the autopsy is performed Monday morning.
Jett's body will be embalmed Monday afternoon. There will be a local showing on Tuesday and later that day the body will be flown to Ocala, Fla. for burial.
McDermott says both John and Kelly are night owls. John often goes to sleep at around 5 AM. But McDermott says both nannies were at the hotel and Jeff always present.
McDermott tells us a hotel manager was first on scene with Jeff and the two of them administered CPR. John came in shortly thereafter and John took over for a "substantial period of time [and] was performing CPR and continued that until EMT came and took over."
McDermott says as for Travolta and Preston, the pain is "unimaginable and unquantifiable."
UPDATE: The Grand Bahamas health minister confirms that the autopsy will be conducted by two pathologists to ensure a proper evaluation has been made. A clinical and forensic pathologist from Nassau, that is U.S. certified, will fly into Grand Bahama on Monday to help perform the autopsy.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: Jett, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta
