A pilot that claims to have had a six-year gay affair with John Travolta has received the green light to fight the actor in court for the right to tell their story.
Douglas Gotterba, who worked for Travolta's aircraft company Alto in the 1980s, unveiled his alleged affair with the actor to the National Enquirer in 2012. During his interview, the pilot claimed he became the Grease actor's lover shortly after landing a job at his company and the two remained lovers until 1986.
More than 25 years after the fact, Gotterba has expressed his intention to "tell the story of his life and those involved in it," including his romance with Travolta. The actor's lawyer, Martin Singer, responded by sending him cease-and-desist letters stating that his actions could breach the confidentiality clause of his termination agreement.
The pilot, however, says the agreement is "not authentic," and that it's just an early draft from another document that didn't include the confidentiality clause. A California appeals court sided with Gotterba on Tuesday and allowed the pilot to take Travolta to court over "the validity of the asserted termination agreements."
Travolta's attorney told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement that "while we believe the court should have thrown out Gotterba's lawsuit at the outset, ultimately, he will not prevail on his claim."
"Gotterba points to an unsigned draft agreement, which he now claims is the controlling document in the case, yet he attached as an exhibit to his own complaint the final version of the contract that he signed barring his claim. We are very confident that in the end we will prevail in the action."