Rashida Jones Apologizes for Travolta Gay Joke

Image by Getty Images
During a recent interview while promoting her new movie, “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” Shmooze favorite Rashida Jones got a bit too excited about celebrities coming out of the closet. While discussing her mild obsession with singer Frank Ocean, who recently declared that he is bisexual, Jones joked that John Travolta should just come out already. While her intentions were probably honorable (for the most part) the Parks and Recreation actress hit on a touchy subject for the “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever” megastar.
“How many masseurs have to come forward? Let’s do this!” the actress, quipped, alluding to lawsuits filed this year by two masseurs who accused Travolta of sexual battery. The first lawsuit was dropped, and the second dismissed. Travolta has been married to Kelly Preston since 1991 and the couple has three children, including their eldest son Jett, who tragically died in 2009 from a seizure while the family was on vacation in The Bahamas.
Jones quickly took to to Twitter after the slip, apologizing and declaring that “nobody’s personal life is my business.” It is clear that Jones regrets the misplaced encouragement, and has learned not to tarnish her rising stardom by taking cheap jabs at Hollywood icons.
We’ll forgive her — if she promises not to gloat in the event of any big announcements from Travolta.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
