John Travolta’s litigation team IS ON IT.
Entertainment law firm Lavely & Singer sent a very stern letter to The Daily Caller (and CC’d a one Mr. John Travolta) on Wednesday, sharply denying that the actor issued payouts to anyone who has accused him of sexual assault.
“The notorious Gawker website” — Lavely & Singer’s words — claimed in a story published on Tuesday that two line items in an insurance document showed that Travolta directly paid $84,000 to two people who accused him of sexual assault.
Chartis Insurance, which was retained by Travolta’s production company, Constellation Productions, Inc., did pay out approximately $84,500 to respond to the allegations. But contrary to Gawker’s report, the money apparently covered only legal fees, and there is no evidence any of it went to the accusers.
“[The money] reflects costs and expenses incurred, which is consistent with legal fees being paid in the defense lawsuits were filed,” Travolta’s legal team told TheDC.
Lavely & Singer also emphasized that the firm is not admitting that the insurance document is genuine.
“We are merely pointing out that hypothetically if it were genuine, it does not say anything at all about settlement payments.”
The Daily Caller reported on Gawker’s accusations on Tuesday. Gawker has since updated its story to remove any suggestion that Travolta paid out hush money.
Two of the men listed in the insurance document also requested on Wednesday that Gawker remove their names from the site’s Travolta story, with at least one voicing concerns about its accuracy.
Reached for comment by Gawker after the story’s publication, one of the men said, “I don’t know what you are talking about. … You have wrong information.”