John Travolta has been unexpectedly named in a sprawling and increasingly acrimonious legal battle involving the Presley family.
Newly amended court filings have made sensational claims about the biological origins of Travolta’s teenage son, Benjamin — allegations that are firmly disputed and remain unsupported by evidence.
The assertions appear in a revised $50 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko, former business associates of Priscilla Presley.
The amended complaint, submitted this week and obtained by the Daily Mail, names both Priscilla Presley and her son, musician Navarone Garibaldi Garcia, as defendants.
At the centre of the controversy are claims, explicitly attributed in the filing to alleged statements made by third parties, suggesting that Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, actor Riley Keough, may have donated her eggs to John Travolta and his late wife Kelly Preston, enabling the couple to welcome their son Ben in 2010.
If true, the allegation would place the teenager within the Presley bloodline.
The complaint further alleges that Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023, had previously donated eggs to Preston as well. However, the filing offers no medical documentation and does not establish whether any such donation resulted in a pregnancy.
Lisa Marie’s former husband, musician Michael Lockwood, father of her twin daughters Harper and Finley, is repeatedly cited in the lawsuit as the purported source of several of these claims.
According to the filing, Lockwood allegedly told Kruse that Preston was unable to conceive without assistance and that reproductive material from within the Presley family had been used.
The amended complaint also alleges — again without corroborating evidence — that Travolta and Preston approached the Presley family in 2010, following the death of their son Jett the previous year, during a period when Travolta was reportedly facing professional and personal pressures.
The filing references past sexual misconduct allegations against the actor, claims Travolta has consistently denied.
One particularly inflammatory assertion in the lawsuit alleges that Travolta ultimately declined to use Lisa Marie Presley’s eggs, citing concerns linked to her well-documented struggles with opioid addiction.
Instead, the filing claims, Riley Keough allegedly provided her eggs, enabling Preston to carry the pregnancy at age 48.
Travolta and Preston, who married in 1991, shared three children: daughter Ella, son Benjamin, and their eldest child Jett, who died at 16 after suffering a seizure while on holiday in the Bahamas in 2009.
Kelly Preston died in July 2020 following a private battle with breast cancer.
Beyond questions of parentage, the amended lawsuit introduces further dramatic claims, alleging that Keough received compensation — including an old Jaguar and a payment between $10,000 and $20,000 — in exchange for the alleged egg donation.
The complaint also references a handwritten note containing phrases such as ‘CA fertility partners,’ ‘Ben Travolta,’ and ‘Kelly Preston carried baby,’ as well as a text message in which Benjamin is allegedly described as Priscilla Presley’s ‘beautiful great-grandson.’
The filing goes on to assert that the alleged arrangement required approval from the Church of Scientology and that Priscilla Presley played an oversight role, claims that have not been independently verified.
Kruse and Fialko further allege that Lockwood sought to use the purported information as leverage to negotiate a settlement on behalf of himself and his daughters.
The lawsuit also accuses Navarone Garcia of demanding that references to Keough and Travolta’s son be kept out of the media and of seeking a multi-million-dollar settlement — allegations he denies.
In a strongly worded statement issued to the Daily Mail, an attorney representing both Garcia and Priscilla Presley condemned the amended complaint, describing the new allegations as irrelevant, unethical, and designed to exert improper pressure.
‘After losing motion after motion in this case,’ the attorney said, ‘there is no bar too low, no ethical line that Kruse and her co-conspirators are unwilling to cross. These outrageous allegations have absolutely nothing to do with the claims in this case and will be addressed in court.’
The attorney added that Priscilla Presley has denied all wrongdoing and accused the plaintiffs of attempting to cause additional distress to her family.
Kruse and Fialko, through their attorney Jordan Matthews of Holtz Matthews LLP, defended the amended filing, stating that they were ‘heartbroken’ to have been forced to submit it.
Matthews said the lawsuit aims to ‘reveal the truth’ and counter what he described as unfounded accusations against his clients, adding that all family disputes following Lisa Marie Presley’s death had previously been resolved.
The disputed claims about biological parentage form only one part of a broader legal conflict.
Kruse and Fialko’s lawsuit also accuses Navarone Garcia of breaching contracts and interfering with business ventures associated with Priscilla Presley’s name and likeness. That case was filed shortly after a separate lawsuit against Priscilla Presley herself, in which she is accused of misconduct following her daughter’s death.
Priscilla Presley has vehemently denied all allegations brought by her former associates. As the case moves forward, the court — not public speculation — will ultimately determine which claims, if any, hold legal weight.
Representatives for John Travolta and Riley Keough have been contacted by Metro.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
