She enjoyed big-screen fame and had a nearly unheard of 30-year Hollywood marriage with
her teen crush John Travolta. But this bubbly star suffered through things most of us couldn't
even imagine. Here are a few of the tragic details about the late Kelly Preston.
Violent incident
Before her marriage to Travolta, Preston had a few leading men in her life. She had what
Mirror described as an "intense love affair" with George Clooney in the late '80s, before
moving on to Charlie Sheen. They were briefly engaged, but the relationship ended suddenly,
and for a long time, there was speculation that Sheen accidentally shot Preston in the
arm.
According to Newsweek, Preston received stitches after the incident and sold her engagement
ring. The details about exactly what happened plagued Preston for two decades since both
she and Sheen never spoke publicly about the alleged shooting. But in a now-deleted video,
Preston laughed off the incident to TMZ in 2011 explaining that the whole thing was,
quote, "a complete accident." In 2016, Sheen told his version of the story, that Preston
injured herself when she accidentally fired his gun.
Sheen told a crowd in Vancouver during his My Violent Torpedo of Truth tour that he was
making coffee in the kitchen when he heard a gunshot go off in the upstairs bathroom.
He said,
"I thought, 'She did it, she finally f---ing did it. She killed herself and they're going
to f---ing blame me.'"
According to Sheen, Preston moved his pants and his "revolver" fell out of a pocket and,
quote,
"Shot a bullet right between her legs...[She was] hit with shrapnel from the toilet bowl."
Losing her son
It's always heartbreaking when a parent outlives their child. Unfortunately, on January 2nd,
2009, Travolta and Preston's 16-year old son Jett passed away while the family was on vacation
in the Bahamas. According to People magazine, Jett suffered a seizure and hit his head on
the bathtub.
Jett had a history of seizures, and in a 2002 interview with Montel Williams, Kelly revealed
that he was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease when he was 15 months old. She explained,
"Jett's whole immune system shut down, and he got really sick with high fevers, 104 and
105. I kept taking him into the doctor and they didn't know what was wrong with him.
He developed a rash on his body, swollen lymph glands, it was horrible."
"I've had loss, I've had enormous loss, nobody should have to lose a child."
But despite the tragedy of Jett's passing, Kelly willed her way to continue living. In
an episode of The Conversation, she described her experience of losing Jett as "unfathomable."
"But I'm here to say that you can get through it. You can live again. You can want to live
again."
Extortion plot
Losing your child is bad enough, but Travolta alleged that two paramedics in the Bahamas
attempted to extort money from him and Preston by leaking a document to the media that stated
Travolta refused to transport Jett to the hospital. In the trial, according to ABC News,
Travolta testified that the medic accused of blackmailing him was, quote, "threatening
to say that Travolta was at fault in his son Jett's death."
The outlet reported that Travolta was told by his bodyguard and his lawyer that someone
was demanding $25 million and that the document would be, quote, "sold to the press" if Travolta
didn't pay. ABC News also reported that the case marked the first time Travolta publicly
admitted Jett had autism. After the first trial ended in a mistrial, the Travoltas dropped
the case because they no longer wanted to deal with a painful trial. The judge then
dismissed the charges against the two defendants. In a statement, Travolta wrote,
"The long-pending status of this matter continued to take a heavy emotional toll on my family,
causing us to conclude that it was finally time to put this matter behind us. Therefore,
after much reflection, I concluded that it was in my family's best interest for me not
to voluntarily return to The Bahamas to testify a second time at trial."
Long health struggle
Preston's sudden passing at the age of 57 came as a complete shock to the world. In
a statement to People magazine, a family rep revealed that unbeknownst to anyone outside
her inner circle, Preston had been fighting breast cancer for two years. The rep added,
"Choosing to keep her fight private, she had been undergoing medical treatment for some
time, supported by her closest family and friends. She was a bright, beautiful, and
loving soul who cared deeply about others and who brought life to everything she touched.
Her family asks for your understanding of their need for privacy at this time."
Travolta also confirmed his wife's diagnosis in a heartfelt Instagram post, writing,
"It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost
her two-year battle with breast cancer. She fought a courageous fight with the love and
support of so many."
The actor went on to thank Preston's doctors and nurses, and added,
"Kelly's love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for
my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don't hear from
us for a while. But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks
and months ahead as we heal."
"This guy is like…"
"Nicest guy you've ever met."
"Yeah."
"The sweetest."
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