Do we like John Travolta?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A long clean public record on harm and nice, but his defence of Scientology and a thin record of causes keep him short of the top.
The latest chapter is a sweet one. At Cannes in May 2026 Travolta premiered Propeller One-Way Night Coach, a film he wrote, directed, financed and narrated himself, with relatives in the cast. Critics found it endearing but a bit odd, and he got visibly emotional when Cannes handed him an honorary Palme d'Or just before the screening.
The fine print on the old stoushes goes like this. In 2012 two massage therapists sued him in separate suits, alleging sexual assault, and his lawyer denied it. Both suits were dropped. A 2013 Gawker story about insurance payouts was called false by his lawyer, who said the document didn't show a single penny paid in settlements.
Another case went his way in court too. Author Robert Randolph sued him and his lawyer for defamation over a letter sent to Gawker, and in 2012 a Los Angeles judge tentatively tossed it. The judge treated the letter as a protected pre-litigation demand letter. The ruling was on a legal technicality, not a finding on the underlying claims, but Travolta was the one left standing.
The good stuff is real but modest on the record. In 2010 he donated about US$10,000 to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund during a South Africa trip for the World Cup. That's honestly about the whole verified list from what I read, so don't expect a long charity résumé.
So: a bloke whose public record is mostly lawsuits that fizzled and a Cannes comeback as a first-time director. The Scientology line is the one asterisk, and it's one position, not a pattern of harm. We'd cheer him on, with eyes open.