I’m already pretty tired of this John Travolta scandal/lawsuit. Maybe it will get interesting in the weeks and months to come, but for now, at this moment, it just makes me really sad. I’m sad for John Travolta and his sad, sweaty, pathetic need to grope, harass and assault masseurs. I’m sad for the masseurs who were just trying to do their jobs, only to be physically abused by a powerful Hollywood type. I’m sad that the Church of Scientology can’t simply let Travolta be who he is naturally. I’m sad for Travolta’s lawyers, who seem to be releasing more and more “evidence” of Travolta’s innocence, only to have said “evidence” blow up in their faces like a sweaty, pathetic Travolta-happy-ending. As I said before, I enjoy a good, gossipy “Travolta has gay spa sex” story. But those stories always involved Travolta doing things with consenting adults (“adults” = lithe, dark young men). The current round of stories are ASSAULTS.

So, here are today’s stories. As I mentioned yesterday, you really need to go to TMZ and look at the photos and receipts Travolta’s lawyers have provided to “prove” that Travolta wasn’t even in LA for the first masseur’s assault. Travolta’s lawyer, Marty Singer, says: “On the date when plaintiff claims John met him, John was not in California and it can be proved that he was on the East Coast. My client was in New York on January 15. We have flight and hotel records.” Except… the only proof offered so far are the photos and the receipt, neither of which prove anything. The photos are absolutely ridiculous – they are the most awkward Photoshopped images I’ve seen in a while, and besides that, how do those photos “prove” Travolta was in NYC on the day in question? TMZ says Travolta’s people claim the photos are time-stamped – which is basically like saying, “Because I said so.” As for the Mr. Chow’s receipt – it’s unsigned. And it’s dated for late in the evening. Which means that Travolta could have been in LA to assault the masseur in the morning, then flown to NYC for a meal later in the day.

So the masseurs’ lawyer, Okorie Okorocha fought back against Singer’s claims and the “evidence” provided to TMZ: “The credit card receipt that Mr. Travolta says proves he was in New York City has a time stamp of 11:38 p.m., our complaint clearly says the assault occurred in the morning of January 16. This credit card receipt proves absolutely nothing, and it doesn’t account for the day of January 16. My client was sexually assaulted at 10 a.m. Travolta could make it to New York on horseback in that time.” Oh, and Travolta’s lawyers are now saying that they have the flight records that Travolta flew to NYC the night before the alleged LA assault. Sure.

So the first masseur – the first one to file a lawsuit – has issued a statement to Radar- it’s a lengthy piece which you can read in it’s entirety here. The basic gist:

“As the unidentified masseur in the John Travolta case I have an opinion that I wanted to share. I don’t think anyone should form any opinion about Mr. Travolta, his family, his council, myself, John Doe #2, and our counsel. Instead, I would urge everyone to understand that guilt or innocence in our Justice System is decided by our court system. Too often these matters are decided by swaying public opinion through elements that would never be considered in an actual court case.

For instance, a photograph, a restaurant receipt, testimony, and other things that may or may not constitute proof have strict guidelines that must be followed. A fine example is the amazing number of guilty people that escape their crimes due to the mishandling of evidence. Is it disappointing, of course it is, but it is a price we must pay in order to have a justice system that runs in a constitutional manner.

In consideration of that, I ask the public to not judge anyone, and allow all parties to work things out in a respectful and dignified manner, and if these matters do go to court than only that final decision past appeals, etc should be considered a definitive statement on ‘guilt’ or ‘innocence’. Despite the circus that celebrity matters seem to spiral into, we should grant all parties involved a wait-and-see attitude, and wait for either the official decision of a judge and jury, or the possibility of a dignified discussion between people who are not pit bulls, or aces, or anything, but are actually officers of the court (lawyers) who have sworn an oath to protect the justice system from losing its blind lady of justice with scales and replacing her with the days of Salem Witch Hunts.

[Via Radar]

I don’t really know what to make of that. Is he angling because he got the date wrong? Or is he just trying to be nice because he knows he has “proof” and he’s about to take Travolta down?

Incidentally – why haven’t Travolta’s lawyers started attacking the credibility of the second masseur’s story? The second incident went down in Georgia, and there’s more “proof” that John was in Atlanta when the second masseur says everything went down. The second victim also has copies of the emails he sent to his employers after Travolta allegedly assaulted him. And can I just say? I think the second dude should also sue the hotel/resort he works for – they were complicit in his assault.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.