Let’s shut the smartass vibe off for a moment because this is nothing short of tragic. Jett Travolta, the teenage son of celebrity Scientologists John Travolta and Kelly Preston, has suddenly suffered a seizure-related death:
Jett Travolta, 16, suffered a seizure at a rented villa where the family had been spending their vacation. Loretta Mackey, a police spokesman in Nassau, said that Jett had died after he hit his head while in a bath at the holiday home. Attempts were made to revive him at the scene of the accident but he was declared dead on arrival at Rand Memorial Hospital.
Jett, who had a history of seizures, was the eldest child of the star of Grease, Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction and his wife, the actress Kelly Preston.
Frequent seizures are a well-known symptom of autism, which Jett has long been rumoured to suffer from. Of course, anti-seizure medications are widely available, but it sounds unlikely that his parents allowed him the relief provide from these drugs. John Travolta has vocally spoken out against all psychiatric medications, which sounds a lot like Tom Cruise’s stance as expressed in his infamous “You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do.” rant. In addition, Hollywood Interrupted reports that Travolta and Preston wouldn’t even acknowledge that Jett suffered from autism:
Sadly, the Scientology couple cannot even publicly admit that their son is afflicted with a neurological disorder, lest – according to the incontrovertible doctrine of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard – he be labeled a “degraded being” that brought his affliction onto himself. Instead, the Travoltas have long blamed their son’s disability on Kawasaki Syndrome-related “environmental toxins,” specifically carpet cleaning chemicals.
Rumors about Jett Travolta’s disability have been floating around for years, but when no less than five sources (including a media rep from the Autism Society of America (ASA), an executive from Cure Autism Now, a major Hollywood producer and parent of an autistic child, and a Hollywood actor-parent) reported that Jett Travolta was afflicted did we decide to deliver this story. Scientology will not even recognize the disability, let alone the myriad therapies for treating it.
The CAN and ASA officials that spoke with Hollywood, Interrupted credited Sylvester Stallone and former pro football greats Doug Flutie and Dan Marino as celebrity parents of children with autism that have helped raise awareness of the malady. These celebs reportedly share their frustration with what they perceive as Travolta’s “denial” stemming from Scientology’s rabid hatred of psychiatry and judgment of those with psychological problems as lesser humans responsible for their own maladies
Unfortunately, Scientology’s followers are often brainwashed into complying with the cult’s prohibition against psychiatric medications, including those for autism. With these medications, this tragedy could quite possibly have been avoided. Jett Travolta, like all children, deserved better than this.
UPDATE: An interestng and relevant blind item has popped up.
No comments
I have no understanding whatsoever as to how any reasonable person can be persuaded to the bullshit that is Scientology. Whether he is a ‘true believer’ or not he and his family must be devastated.
If, at any point, Travolta had any doubt whatsoever as to whether his son had autism, he will torment himself forever and, if his buddies in the Scientology business did anything to persuade him otherwise, he could well become their most ardent critic.
One thing I see as a near certainty is that their marriage will have difficulty surviving this. It is not likely that both parents shared the same level of devotion to Scientology any more than any two Christians agree on each and every point of Christianty.
If one of them ever…ever…questioned the other as to their son’s condition, there won’t be a chance in hell of them surviving this.
Actually, jmflynny, you shouldn’t worry because Scientology will take steps to alleviate Mr. Travolta’s “negative emotions” for the small cost of about, oh, $1,000 per hour.
Of course, that’s after laying the blame for his son’s death directly at Travolta’s feet – since it clearly resulted from some negative emotions in the household. Most likely what happened – somebody started thinking critically about Scientology, and you know, bad things happen when you do that.
But, it’s cool. Scientology’s got his back. They will totally handle the press and take control of the memorial services and all that.
http://www.endthecult.com/2009/01/a-former-scientologist-on-jett-travolta/
Is it just me, or is the Caribbean a fantastically dangerous place for celebrities to visit?
As for the rest of this, it’s sad and tragic even if it wasn’t preventable. If it was preventable also … well I’m not going to go there until we hear more. IF we hear more.
Because of there being no medication allowed for this “psychosomatic” problem known as autism, Jett Travolta died of Scientology.
Period.
As much as I dislike Scientology, there’s a lot of speculation going on here.
[...] Jett Travolta’s Seizure Related Death [...]
as a mother i don’t understand Kelly Preston allowing her husband or the scientolgists to tell her that she can not get her son the anti-seizure medication he needed and the help that he would require for his autism my son has had health and learning issues since birth and i have moved heaven and earth to get him the meds, the dr’s, and the teachers that he needed so that he will be able to do what ever he wants in life. my heart goes out to her loseing your child must be the worst pain on earth. may god bless her and give her peace.
Levin from TMZ was on Fox this morning a reported that Jett jhad been on anti-seizure meds for some time but tht the medicine actually made his seizures more severe and thus was discontinued.
Contradictions, eh.
Damn, I wish I could believe TMZ, Flynny. Unfortunately, their credibility pretty much disintegrated when they mysteriously showed up on Britney Spears’ payroll.
Alright as someone who is somewhat trained in investigative process and logical deduction, here is what I know about this situation:
1) John Travolta had a 16 year old son named Jett.
2) Jett died while they were visiting the Bahamas.
3) Someone saw him going into the bathroom at night and his body was found in the AM.
4) He had injuries consistent with hitting his head.
5) John Travolta is a Scientologist.
What I do NOT know, but have heard asserted as fact:
- Jett had autism (proof?)
- He fell because he had a seizure (no one can know this, nor is the autopsy likely to establish it)
- His seizure could have been prevented if he was on a certain medication (I doubt a doctor who knew his full medical profile could say this)
- His parents were negligent in not treating his autism (which he may not have had) or his seizures (of uncertain origin and which are only asserted by hearsay as far as I know).
Now again, I think Scientology is pretty ridiculous, but these two people just lost their kid. As goofy as John Travolta is, I don’t think he deserves this sort of thing right now. It’s being investigated — let them investigate.
I understand what you’re saying, Jvon, and, believe me, this blog post is a million times more restrained that several others that I could name.
Notice that I’ve not blamed Travolta and my wording has been as subtle as I can manage, but the CO$ is very adept at brainwashing, and I do know that at least two of the other commenters in this thread are former members of the cult. Certainly, they can join my outrage at the CO$ for claiming many lives in the past, but I have restrained myself here much more than I could have done.
I admit to speculation, though it’s a relatively informed speculation. The thing is my speculation – which may seem heartless – is nothing compared to what the Travoltas will now face from their own “church”, which could include “ethics actions” be applied to the grieving parents. That doesn’t make my speculation “right” (i would be using a logical fallacy to negate the speculative nature of my opinion, and that ain’t right yo), but do another check of the link provided in an earlier response here and see what the “church” will now be doing, per a longstanding member who had reached their highest “state of awareness.”
AB, for the record I thought your post was tasteful considering (about as tasteful as any post on the subject could be at this point
, just trying to point out to people that a lot of the speculating going on (in the comments here and elsewhere) is just that, speculating. And I hope, I really do hope, that the Travoltas aren’t reading blogs right now, so maybe it doesn’t matter. But still, they’re human beings, even if they do belong to the CO$. I cannot even imagine the pain of losing a son like that, much less what I’d feel if people accused me of being the cause of it. Unless somebody is SURE about that, it’s a God-awful thing to say.
So while I’ll make fun of his hair, what movies he’s been in, his ridiculous collection of planes, his penchant for wearing weird uniforms, or any number of other things, you probably will not see me talking about how he could have saved his son. Some things just happen. This could well have been one of those things.