Tom Cruise: Jett Travolta's Death "Horrific"

NEW YORK — "Horrific" is how Tom Cruise described the sudden death of the son of his friend, John Travolta.

Cruise struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke on "The View" about last week's death of 16-year-old Jett Travolta.

"John just adored him, both of his children," Cruise said haltingly. "... It's something that I don't have the words for."

The 46-year-old actor called Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, "doting parents, just wonderful people." The couple have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.

Jett died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama. He had a history of seizures and was found unconscious in a bathroom. Results of an autopsy performed Monday were not released, but a Bahamas undertaker said the teen's death certificate listed "seizure" as the cause of death.

In response to a question from "The View" host Barbara Walters, Cruise defended Scientology, which he and the Travoltas follow, against rumors that have swirled since Jett Travolta died.

The church doesn't discourage conventional medical care, Cruise declared _ "actually, the exact opposite."

"They say, 'Get your physical, get your medication, get your physical illnesses handled.'"

Taped Thursday, Cruise's appearance on the ABC daytime talk show is scheduled to air Friday. His latest film is "Valkyrie."

___

On the Net:

http://www.abc.com

Comments

[hypnotoad72]

What sort of death is not horrific?

[Djangeaux]

Find out more about the cult of scientology.

Google Lisa McPherson, Paulette Cooper, Fair Game, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org Child labor.

Visit the Ex-Scientologists Message Board for real stories about what transpires in scientology.

It's not some shiny happy goofy UFO "church". It's a vicious cult that brutally harasses its critics and ex-members, and frightfully abuses its (non-celebrity) adherents.

Google it and Get Informed.

[ColoradoDan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcGgKtb4O4A&feature=related

A Scientolgist can never disagree with even one sentence Hubbard has said or printed. Never.

[Phoebe917]

OMG; that is the scariest thing i've seen in a while... thanks for the link.

[knerd]

Another opinion:

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/mediaculture/935/travolta_tragedy%3A_don%27t_blame_l._ron_hubbard_/

[charitabledonation]

I want to see one of these "news shows" ask a celebrity how often they floss their teeth. Or if their teeth are real. Or if they wear comfortable shoes at home. Or if they pee in the shower. If we're going to ask personal questions, or questions about things they may not know or want to answer about, lets get some real "goodies" on the table and stop f'n around with whether we like them or not, and just pry them open like a can of spam and let the world see. Idol worship should be more than talk-show deep.

feh.

[cjks]

I do not think Barbara should have asked the question...................Whoopie seemed very uncomfortable with the question and answer. Tom seemed to have no words it was awkward to say the least. I do not like Tom but in this case I blame the questioner.

[Marbur]

Tom Cruise is incoherent in his explaination of Scientology, there is no explaination for Scientology. They exclude, they exploit young adults, they harass people. Mr. Cruise is a very poor salesman for his chosen religion''. He can act, but he can't explain his ''RELIGION". Only his fame makes him a spokesperson, not his intellect.

[lurkmode]

Scientology kills ... this is proof.

They're always making statements that say they allow this or that but it's always the celebs you hear this from. They get different treatment than the common Scientologists.

They're still convinced that any mental illness is caused by alien souls that were trapped on earth 75 million years ago.

Amazing

[IBlivin]

As a parent of a special needs child, and a husband of a wife who prescreens chlidren for autism and other special needs, we both feel there are stong indications Jett showed evidence of autism. I have spent time with many autistic children and my wife works with them every day. If you watch the video of them coming out of the Paris restaurant, Jett shows definite evidence of autism. First, he is being being physically directed for every move. Each parent is holding a hand and third person has a hand on his shoulder. This kind of guidance/control is not really necessary for a typical (developmentally) 17-yr old. Also notice he appears to be non-verbal, and shows no evidence of interaction with those around him. Notice also how when he is sitting in the car he touches the top of his head several times, as if to scratch, with his hand unnaturally contorted. He definitely had something going on. Seizures often accompany autism and other developmental disabilities.

If the parents did not provide him with medication to control siezures because they believed it would be "psychiatric" care which Scientology says is evil, does that mean they were "neglectful"? Not for me to say. The Travolta family has never acknowledged their child had some sort of developmental special needs and maybe it was out of protecting Jett's privacy. But maybe it was denial. Who knows?

[GrammaCarol]

I noticed what you noticed in the Paris film clip but I disagree with you somewhat on your conclusions. I have an autistic adult "child," who is also severely mentally retarded and who developed a severe form of epilepsy 6 years ago. Never did we have to have our hands on him all the time when we walked with him until he developed the intractible epilepsy. My son has numerous drop seizures a day which no medication has been able to stop, even when he was on 4 different meds at the same time...in fact, many anti-seizure medications have made the seizures worse. (I am part of a support group online for parents of children with epilepsy and it is way more common than the public at large realizes to have epilepsy that is not controllable by any kind of medication.) We do the same thing with my son in public...someone is always holding his hand and/or holding onto his clothing or back, in an attempt to catch him or break his fall if he suddenly drops with a seizure. When I saw the way they were holding Jett, I thought it was to catch him if he fell from a seizure because it looked just like what we do with my son.

[MomfromTexas]

GrammaCarol,

A few years ago, I heard about the possibility of Jett Travolta having autism and the Travoltas either being in denial or not wanting to discuss it publicly. Since hearing about his epilepsy, I wonder if many of the physical characteristics that one could see with Jett were being caused by severe epilepsy, perhaps brain damage caused by Gran Mals? Of course, he could have had both autism and epilepsy, but do you think that his physical issues could have been caused by severe epilepsy and the subsequent brain damage from the seizures, and he didn't have autism? Since you live with a child who has both disorders, I'm curious what your thoughts are. And I think you are spot on about the way he was being led in Paris and why he was being led that way. I also noticed how very calm everyone was. It's like they were trying to keep the environment calm, which, on the other hand, could go back to autism, huh? Anyway, just wondering your thoughts.

[dben]

"...struggled to maintain his composure... " Cruise spoke "haltingly."

He's "jumping the couch" again. Same thing, different talk show. True respect demands deferential discretion, if not complete silence. Cruise's performative restraint borders on histrionic and eclipses the real tragedy of this child's death. The View is equally to blame here. They know better and yet they still exploited Cruise and this death for ratings.

* * *

"THEY say, 'Get your physical, get your medication, get your physical illnesses HANDLED.'"

"They"? Well, most intelligent people do not need a "church" to tell them to get medical care. The implication is Scientonomists get their "physical illnesses handled" because they are told how, why and when to do so. "Handled" is a conveniently and suspiciously vague word.

[lassengirl]

Tom Cruise was at a loss for words because there were many, many things he couldn't say on TV about his beliefs because they would cause a riot among his scientology buddies. There are secrets in that "religion" that would curl your hair.

By the way, scientologists do not "worship" anything. It is a cult of the self.
Bowing to the human desire to find something to worship, they have begun to deify LRH to the extent of expecting his second coming.

[tck29]

All religions are cults. Before you criticize Scientology, just be sure you're not practicing any other religion. Seriously, waiting for the second coming of L. Ron is no more ridiculous than a virgin birth or transsubstantiation.

[Chlowina]

Good grief... you sound like me... a former catholic.

[coastalcarla]

I completely agree - after 11 years of Catholic school growing up, that's exactly what I think of all religion.

[ColoradoDan]

Hubbard is known as "Source" to Scientologists.

Society,humans, families, democracy and so on ... nothing is above L. Ron Hubbard nor Scientology. Read KSW sometime ... it is the bottom line creed.

Let Tom tell you about how important it is to get their Ethics In on all of us Wogs. One of the oddest videos any celebrity has ever done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFBZ_uAbxS0

"The proper instruction attitude is, "You're here so you're a Scientologist. Now we're going to make you into an expert auditor no matter what happens. We'd rather have you dead than incapable." - L R Hubbard is KSW.

[Jacqueline3]

I don't like Tom Cruise.

[MomfromTexas]

Why does everyone assume that Tom Cruise and the Travolta family MUST be great friends since they're all scientologists? There's no indication that the Travoltas and Cruise are great friends. He was on The View yesterday, not at Jett's funeral. I remember when Cruise married Holmes, and some of the media was asking, "Where's Travolta? Why didn't he come to the wedding?" LOL!

[marignymitch]

Everyone assumes that? I suggest checking out the sentient community.

[sunny555]

Good for you, Tom, for speaking up for your friend. Loyalty ranks very high with me.

[Pegi]

Notice how they always use the word "physical"; i.e., physical exams, medications for physical illness.

[roblabrousse]

The coverage of the untimely death of this young child is thoroughly undignified. Everyone wants a piece of the"action'. The more it's discussed as an "object" the more it decreases the focus of what it is. This is still a deeply sad time for people who are dealing with this death. Take them out of the limelight if you really respect them. Don't make this a topic of conversation.anymore.

[alexandrovich]

Remember too how Tom Cruise was heard speaking on CNN the night Princess Diana died? It seems to be all self-promotion for him, all the time.

[unclesmedley]

Here, here...