John Travolta has once again been accused of rubbing someone the wrong way over a spa encounter.
Travolta — who lately has been plagued by accusations that he inappropriately touched masseurs during massage sessions — has been slapped with another lawsuit, this time by a man who wrote a book about alleged encounters that the actor had with the author and others at a Los Angeles spa.
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And as a bonus, Travolta's attorney, Martin Singer, has been named in the suit too.
Robert Randolph. author of "You'll Never Spa in This Town Again," says that Travolta, through his attorney Singer, seriously damaged his reputation — and the potential success of his book — with "untrue" and "defamatory" statements in a letter that Singer penned to Gawker Media's Gabrielle Darbyshire.
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The letter, a response to a 2010 Gawker.com interview with Randolph in which he detailed Travolta's alleged sexual exploits in LA's City Spa, was later published online and picked up by "numerous third parties," the suit says.
According to the complaint, Singer characterized Randolph's accounts as "phony tall tales" and claimed that Randolph has spent time in mental institutions. Both claims are false, the suit asserts, and have damaged the commercial prospects of his book.
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"Several of the statements made by Defendant Singer, on behalf of his Defendant Travolta, are untrue and amount to defamatory statements sought to disparage the quality of Plaintiff's property and reputation and to induce members of the public to believe that Plaintiff is an unreliable source and this abstain from purchasing Plaintiff's book," the suit reads.
Not surprisingly, both Travolta and Singer adamantly deny Randolph's claims.
"The lawsuit filed by Robert Randolph is absurd. The suit is based on a privileged communication, and it will promptly be thrown out by the court," a representative for Travolta states. "Mr. Travolta will aggressively defend himself against this lawsuit and expects to be fully vindicated when this meritless case is dismissed."
Singer, meanwhile, calls Randolph's lawsuit "ridiculous" and vows to sue in return.
“This is a ridiculous lawsuit. It is based on our letter which was completely privileged under the law," Singer told TheWrap in a statement. "We intend to sue the attorneys for malicious prosecution after the court promptly dismisses this baseless lawsuit.”
Claiming trade libel, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, Randolph is seeking unspecified damages.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.