What do Elvis Presley and John Travolta have in common? Well, besides their musical gravitas… offspring, apparently? Reportedly? Possibly?
On Wednesday night, a truly bonkers story broke involving a lawsuit filed by Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko—two former business associates of Lisa Marie Presley—against Presley’s son, Navarone Garcia. In the recently amended suit, they allege that actress Riley Keough is the biological mother of Travolta and Kelly Preston’s son via egg donation.
Hold on. Take a sip of coffee. Because this legalese bullshit is about to get insane.
First, it helps to understand the family tree. Keough is the daughter of Presley, who is the daughter of Priscilla Presley, who married Elvis and was famously the subject of an underrated Sofia Coppola film. Moving on.
According to the suit, after Lisa Marie’s death in January 2023, the “entire Presley family clamored for control of the estate and for payouts, using Plaintiffs Kruse and Fialko as both negotiators and mediators.” Which, honestly, tracks given, you know, it’s Elvis.
The filing includes the bombshell claim that Presley’s ex-husband, Michael Lockwood, told Kruse that Keough had donated one of her eggs to Travolta and Preston in exchange for up to $20,000 and an “old Jaguar.” And that the couple had previously used Presley’s donated eggs to get pregnant—though it didn’t clarify whether those eggs resulted in a pregnancy. Travolta allegedly approached the family again in 2010, a year after his son died, but said he didn’t want Presley’s “eggs with heroin,” and made a deal where Keough donated her eggs instead.
Which, $20k and an old jag? This detail seems a little too specific to be made up. But I digress. Like me, you may be wondering: Where is this even coming from? Can’t we all just enjoy the rest of the holiday season in peace? But no.
Presley was quick to shut the rumor down, stating that they have “absolutely nothing to do with the claims in this case,” adding that the matter “absolutely will be addressed in court.”
Despite that, and despite the fact that an egg donation doesn’t guarantee a pregnancy—before the ink could dry, tabloids ran wild, declaring that Travolta’s 15-year-old son, Benjamin, is in fact the biological great-grandson of Elvis Presley, making this nugget of gossip fascinating to my celebrity-addled brain and, at the same time, completely useless information. As with most celebrity news.
To think, decades after the King’s infamous death, hysterics over this man’s lore still follow the family well into the 2020s.
In more useless celebrity news, Gypsy Rose Blanchard got a pixie cut. Same, girl. [The Cut]
Susan Boyle to receive coveted Marty Supreme Jacket and endless praise from Timothée Chalamet. Tread lightly, Susan. [The Guardian]
Bebe Rexha is calling on her followers to find her a baby daddy. Quick! [Twitter]
KJ Apa might ruin Jimmy Stewart for all of us. [Vulture]
Lisa Rinna wouldn’t mind taking a stab at Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh! Mary [Las Culturistas]
Fans (me) are drawing comparisons between Melania Trump’s documentary and Charli xcx’s The Moment trailers.
Jennifer Lawrence told Leonardo DiCaprio he would look great with a teenage daughter. (But what about a twenty-something GF? [Variety]
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