Weeks after losing his son, John Travolta and his family are now the victims of an extortion bid.

Exact details of the plot have yet to be made public, but the attempt to get money from the Travoltas is connected with the death of their 16-year-old son Jett, according to TMZ.com. The extortionists are reportedly demanding $20 million.

Police in the Bahamas have now launched an investigation, Bahamian Parliament member Obie Wilchcombe has confirmed to Us Weekly.

Today it emerged that two men in the Bahamas, including a local politician from Grand Bahama and another man believed to be connected to the ambulance service, are now being quizzed by local authorities over the allegations.

The Bahamas’ largest Web site, Bahamasb2b.com, reports that one of the paramedics who responded to the emergency call took a picture, using his cell phone, as Jett Travolta lay dying.

The shot is said to show the actor’s son in the back of the ambulance which took him to hospital.

The Bahamian politician reportedly contacted Travolta on behalf of the medical worker, threatening to sell the picture to U.S. celebrity tabloids, such as the National Enquirer, if their multi-million dollar demand is ignored.

News of the investigation comes as Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s government announced a major crackdown on corruption.

It aims to get rid of more than a dozen top-levels cops from the country’s police force. The development is seen as one of the most important nation-building moves in years.

“A number of senior officers were seen today,” Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest told the local press Wednesday.

“They were told that the force was being reorganized and that they weren’t going to be a part of that and that they had an option of voluntarily retiring if they wished. But we intend by the end of this week to reorganize the senior command of the Royal Bahamas Police.”

Wilchcombe, meanwhile, says he was approached about the extortion plot early last week and passed along the information to Travolta’s lawyers.

“The irony was that the Travolta family just sent a letter of gratitude - it happened that afternoon,” said Wilchcombe, referring to a Jan. 12 statement issued by a rep for the family thanking the people of the Bahamas for their support.

“I thought it was a despicable act,” Wilchcombe said. “One person should not destroy the character of the country.”

Jett died of a seizure disorder on Jan. 2, while staying at the family’s vacation home in the Bahamas.

Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston traveled in the ambulance to the hospital and the teenager was pronounced dead at the hospital.

His cause of death after an autopsy was reportedly listed as “seizure,” but the death certificate has never been made public.

(source)

• John Travoltas 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas
• John Travolta Cancels Golden Globe Appearance

John Travolta, who is mourning the death of his 16-year-old son Jett, has canceled his appearance at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, his rep said.

The actor — whose latest movie, Bolt, is nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for his duet with costar Miley Cyrus (”I Thought I Lost You”) — was scheduled to present.

On Thursday, Travolta and wife Kelly Preston held a memorial service for Jett in their Ocala, Fla., hometown. Lisa Marie Presley, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were among the celeb guests.

Jett died of a seizure disorder Jan. 2 while vacationing with his family in Grand Bahamas.

“John just adored him,” his pal Tom Cruise recently said.

(Source)

• John Travoltas 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas
• John Travolta heartbroken at sons death

This small central Florida town is about as far from Hollywood as you can get. Maybe that’s why actor John Travolta moved his family here.

The town square features a fondue restaurant, the social scene revolves around ranchers’ soirees and horse riding is one of the main pastimes. Mobile home parks, peanut farms and moss-covered oak trees dot the landscape. There is little pretension or glitz.

Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston seem to fit in: They appeared on the cover of this month’s Ocala Style magazine with big smiles, wearing jeans and sweaters.

Now, with the death of their 16-year-old son Jett, this is where they have come to grieve. On Monday night - four days after Jett was found unconscious in the family’s vacation home in the Bahamas - Travolta and Preston flew back to Ocala.

The city is welcoming them quietly and respectfully.

Mayor Randy Ewers said the city sent the Travolta family condolences and would give them space and privacy.

“They’re fantastic people, really family oriented,” Ewers said. “We want to respect their privacy as much as possible.”

Doctors in the Bahamas performed an autopsy on Jett on Monday but did not release results. A Bahamas undertaker said the teen’s death certificate had “seizure” as the cause of death. The teen had a history of seizures; his body was cremated Monday and flown to the U.S. the same night.

A memorial service for Jett will be held Thursday for family and close friends in Ocala, his publicist said.

The Travoltas, who have been together since 1991, bought their unusual $8 million property in Ocala in 2003. The reason had nothing to do with the area’s famed thoroughbred horse farms: Travolta, an avid pilot, was looking for a home where he could fly his many planes, including a Boeing 707 airliner, right to his front door.

The estate, located in a subdivision that boasts the largest private residential runway in the country, was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest in 2004. The style was inspired by Morris Lapidus, the architect of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Eero Saarinen, designer of Washington Dulles International Airport.

“If I can look out the bedroom and see the planes, I am happy,” Travolta told The Associated Press last year.

His eldest son, Jett, and daughter, Ella, played happily around the mid-century compound.

“We’ve got a big pool, a slide and a golf course,” Preston told Architectural Digest. “We’re a family who likes to play a lot.”

And although that family traveled often for work - Travolta’s latest movie, “Bolt,” in which he does the voice for an animated dog, was just released - they also spent time in Ocala and the even smaller village of Anthony, which is right down the street from their home.

“I love rubbing elbows with life and real people,” Travolta, 54, once told the local newspaper, the Star-Banner. “I don’t like living in ivory towers. I want to enjoy life the way everybody else does.”

“He’s just, I don’t know, a normal person,” said Barbara Pound, a waitress at the Saddle Rack Cafe. She served him his favorite breakfast - a $6.49 western omelet - on a handful of occasions. “Nobody bothers him here. We let him have his peace.”

Travolta once brought his son into the cafe and the boy “wouldn’t stop smiling,” said manager Jackie Gomillion.

Others have spotted Travolta and his family cruising around in his classic Thunderbird or just shopping at the Gap in the local mall. Twice, Travolta hosted charity fundraisers around movie premieres at the local movie theater in Ocala where thousands of local fans showed up.

Brent Johnson of Ocala once saw him at the gym at 5:30 a.m.

“I thought to myself, I’m not going to harass him, but he came up to me and said, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’” Johnson said. “He asked about my kids and family. I think there’s a sense of pride here in Ocala that someone like that would want to live here.”

(Source)

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Grief-stricken John Travolta spoke for the first time Sunday about the sudden death of his 16-year-old son Jett, saying his family is “heartbroken.”

“Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for,” the actor said in a statement. “We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time we had with him for the rest of our lives,” he wrote.

His tribute came as the star opened his family photo album to show touching images with his son - pictures that reflected how deeply Travolta, his wife, Kelly Preston, and Jett’s 8-year-old sister Ella Bleu cared for the teenager.

Travolta’s statement did not comment on a possible cause of death or his son’s medical history.

Lawyer and close friend Michael McDermott revealed that Jett for years had suffered from “frequent and extremely serious” grand mal seizures.

Jett was found on the bathroom floor of the family’s posh condo at the Grand Bahama Resort on Friday. Authorities believe he died of a head injury after suffering a seizure and falling. An autopsy is scheduled for today at Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport.

“Each seizure was like a death,” McDermott told celebrity Web site TMZ.com. Jett lost consciousness and went into convulsions about four days a week when he was unmedicated, he said.

Jett took Depakote, an anti-seizure and mood-stabilizing medication, for several years until it apparently lost its effectiveness. The Travoltas had also become concerned about the drug’s possible side effects, which include liver damage, McDermott said, and took him off Depakote some time ago.

There has long been speculation that Jett suffered from autism, but the Travoltas have maintained his health problems were a result of Kawasaki disease, a rare inflammatory ailment affecting the blood vessels that most often occurs in early childhood.

Advocates for autistic kids, including other Hollywood stars, have accused Travolta, a Scientologist, of denying his son’s condition because it would have required Jett to see a psychiatrist, which his religion forbids.

Jett was under 24-hour supervision and audited with a baby monitor, McDermott said. There were chimes on his bathroom door at the condo to alert his nannies when he woke up in the night.

Doctors say that 30% of adolescents with autism also suffer from epilepsy - the clinical name for frequent seizures - and that parents need to be aware of the risks.

“It’s very important for people to know that if you have a child with autism that the child is at higher risk for seizures, and you need to monitor it closely,” said Dr. Geri Dawson, chief scientist at Autism Speaks, a research and advocacy organization. Dawson cited a recent study that showed death among autistic teens is double that of others their age because of seizures.

Dr. Isabelle Rapin, an autism and epilepsy expert at Albert Einstein Medical Center in the Bronx, said Depakote is very useful for seizures. Its most common side effects are weight gain and drowsiness. Liver damage is rare, she said.

Meanwhile, the Travoltas and Bahamian police were at odds over when exactly Jett died. The Travolta camp maintains that Jett suffered the fatal fall Friday morning, before his nanny, Jeff Kathrein, found him on the floor, but investigators say it happened the night before.

“The police left the impression that the boy was unsupervised,” said McDermott. “There were two nannies with him for the entire evening.
“They made it seem like he was sent to the condo and nobody checked in on him until the next morning,” he said.

Police officials stood by their time line Sunday, telling TMZ.com the Travoltas were too traumatized to understand the truth.

(Source)

• John Travoltas 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas
• John Travolta heartbroken at sons death

John Travolta said Saturday he and his wife Kelly Preston are “heartbroken” over the death of their chronically ill 16-year-old son, who collapsed at the family’s vacation home on Grand Bahama.

Police Superintendent Basil Rahming has said a caretaker found Jett Travolta unconscious in a bathroom late Friday morning and he was later pronounced dead at a Freeport hospital. The youth was last seen entering the bathroom on Thursday, according to Rahming’s police statement.

“We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time we had with him for the rest of our lives,” Travolta and Preston said in their first public statement since Jett’s death.

“Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for and lit up the lives of everyone he encountered,” said a statement posted Sunday on Travolta’s Web site.

“We have received many messages of condolence from around the world and we want to thank everyone for their prayers and support. It has meant so much to us. It is a beautiful reminder of the inherent goodness in the human spirit that gives us hope for a brighter future.”

Preston and Travolta have said that Jett became very sick when he was 2 years old and was diagnosed with Kawasaki Syndrome, an illness that leads to inflamed blood vessels in young children. Preston blamed household cleaners and fertilizers, and said that a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health, according to People magazine. Others said Jett was prone to seizures.

Michael McDermott, an attorney for the actor, said Sunday that although Jett was last seen Thursday and found the following day, he doesn’t believe that the teen was in the bathroom for a substantial amount of time.

“The police left the impression that the boy was unsupervised. No. There were two nannies with him for the entire evening,” McDermott told The Associated Press. “They made it seem like he was sent to the condo and nobody checked in on him until the next morning.”

“(Jett) was spectacularly supervised,” said McDermott, who said he has not had the chance to talk to the two nannies himself.

McDermott said he had no knowledge of Jett’s medical history but “understood he had a history of seizures.” It is unclear whether Jett was taking medication for that.

The Bahamas’ health minister, Dr. Hubert Minnis, has said that a second, U.S.-certified pathologist will fly in at dawn Monday to assist with the teenager’s autopsy.

“I have spoken to (Travolta) and informed him that the government is doing everything it can,” Minnis said Sunday, adding he could not disclose further specifics about the autopsy.

About a dozen security guards and Bahamian police officers patrolled Sunday around the luxury Old Bahama Bay resort community where Travolta and Preston remained inside their home. The white-sand beach in front of the suites was closed.

The couple also have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.

Travolta, 54, is trying to finish funeral arrangements and hopes to fly his son’s body to Florida by midweek, McDermott said. Travolta and Preston, 46, have a house in Ocala, Florida.

The Church of Scientology, established in 1945 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has attracted numerous celebrity followers, and among its more famed members is Travolta, who has long been one of Hollywood’s biggest names.

(Source)

• John Travoltas 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas
• John Travolta issues first statement, heartbroken over son Jetts death

John Travolta’s teenage son, Jett, died in the Bahamas after falling ill and hitting his head at his family’s vacation home, police said Friday. A house caretaker found Jett, 16, unconscious in a bathroom late Friday morning. He was taken by ambulance to a Freeport hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a statement from chief police superintendent Basil Rahming.

The teenager had last been seen going into the bathroom on Thursday and had a history of seizures, according to the statement. Police said they are planning an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Another police spokeswoman, Loretta Mackey, said Jett apparently hit his head on the bathtub.

A spokeswoman for Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport said she could not release any information because of privacy concerns.

Jett was the oldest child of Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, who also have an 8-year-old daughter. The family arrived on a private plane Tuesday and had been vacationing at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community.

“The Travolta family has become like family to us at Old Bahama Bay and we extend our deepest sympathies to them,” said Robert Gidel, president of Ginn Resorts, the property’s owner.

(Source)

• John Travolta heartbroken at sons death
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Think John Travolta has an ego? This is what he said on a red carpet the other day. He said that by turning down the role in Green Mile he gave Tom Hanks his career. That Tom basically owes him for the success Tom has.

“Green Mile I probably should have said yes to. But I gave Tom Hanks a career! What you turn down can be a gift to someone else. There is enough to go around.”

You would think that he was joking until you read about the fact he really thinks it was a gift. OK, a couple of things John. Green Mile was in 1999. How many Academy Awards did Tom Hanks already have before Green Mile came out? Also, I’m not sure that the film is really career making. A great role for sure, but I’m not sure if it is something that would make or break a career.

Now, here is another piece of reality for you John. Do you actually think the producers would take you over Tom Hanks? Do you think they came up with their dream list and you were above Tom Hanks? Honestly? You really believe that? I don’t know what they have everyone smoking over at the Celebrity Centre, but you need to share that because anything that can make you believe your own hype like that is some good stuff. Apparently Tom Cruise must be smoking it too.

I just can’t stop laughing. I can’t believe he seriously thinks he made Tom Hanks’ career. Maybe he just took a long nap from the late 80’s and slept through the 90’s.

(source)

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So we have all seen the pictures with John Travolta looking like he went bald for his next movie, guess he really didn’t do it. Is it wrong for me to say that I am kind of bummed he still has his hair?

(source)

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For all of us who were wondering if John Travolta still has all hair, we don’t have to worry for a little while. John Travolta shaved his locks off for his new movie From Paris with Love with Johnathan Rhys Meyers that is currently filming in Paris.

You know I am not sure if he should grow back his hair becasue he kind of looks good without any hair. 

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• John Travoltas Hair Piece Vs. Tom Hanks Hair Transplant
• I guess John Travolta still has his hair!

When John Travolta was asked if he would do Hairspray 2, and he said “I think once is enough. I did it and I did it well but I’m not a big sequel guy”. according to OK! Since the movie is currently being written, I really hope he changes his mind to play her!

(source)

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As John Travolta’s daughter, Ella Bleu, turned 8 a few days ago, Moses Martin just celebrated his second birthday. Both kids enjoyed their special day with family and friends.

While Gwyneth Paltrow threw a mexican-themed birthday bash at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel for son Moses and his little friends, John and wife Kelly Preston went out with a big birthday bash for their little girl at her favorite restaurant, New York City’s Max Brenner with prestigious guests including Forest Whitaker, his wife Keisha and their daughter Sonnet.

Gwyneth realizes how much her little boy has grown.

“[He’s] not so little anymore,” she says. “He doesn’t like a stroller anymore, he doesn’t like a highchair. He likes his independence.”

(source)

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Kelly Preston Photos At the Premiere of ‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ in Hollywood.

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To say it’s a hair-don’t is to put it kindly. We thought that when Make Me Heal ran a story on the unsightly rug John Travolta sported at last year’s Oscars, he’d do something about it. Instead, he seems to have simply shaved it down for this year’s Oscars.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Paul S. Nassif reports, “John Travolta doesn’t look like he has hair transplant. It does look like he is wearing some sort of hairpiece.” Unfortunately, although it’s likely an expensive system and requires a lot of maintenance, it’s not doing its job if the world can still see it as a piece and not hair.Presenter John Travolta was joined at the Oscars by fellow hair-loss sufferer, Tom Hanks, who was also a presenter this year. Unlike John Travolta, Tom Hanks went with “a natural appearing hair transplant with single hair units in the frontal region. Hair remains receding in the temporal region,” according to Dr. Nassif. Hair transplants are more costly and require a lot of maintenance, unlike many hair systems. But they can be worth it in the long run, as they are designed to regrow hair where it has been lost due to male pattern baldness.Although they are both wonderful veteran actors, both John Travolta and Tom Hanks have a long way to go before they can boast wonderful hair.

Read the complete celebrity plastic surgery profile of Tom Hanks and John Travolta on Plasticopedia, the largest celebrity plastic surgery encyclopedia.

• I guess John Travolta still has his hair!
• John Travolta solves those hair rumors

 

 Hollywood star John Travolta is rumored to be dancing at the Oscars this Sunday as he waltzes to one of the Best Song nominees.The Greese star will present the Best Original Song segment of the show, and he’ll join in the fun when singer Jon McLaughlin performs So Close from Enchanted, according to website reports. PlanetGossip.eonline.com claims Travolta will join a dance troupe for the song, waltz around the stage to the podium and then announce the winner.Travolta and his dancing partner will rehearse with the Oscars choreographer this Saturday.

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It was an emotional evening for the attendees at the G’Day USA: Australia Week 2008 event at Lincoln Center last night in light of fellow Aussie Heath Ledger’s passing. While many were simply at a loss for words, John Travolta, who knew Heath, offered a touching tribute to the fallen star.

“I would give back all my awards to have him back. This whole evening has been really hard for me. This is a bad situation,” John told PageSix.com. When asked if there were any signs that Heath was troubled, John said, “As far as I know, he was on top of the world. This craft can make life harsher on you.”

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