Masseur-Gate has gotten sad and rather anticlimactic (no pun intended). Thank goodness The National Enquirer is here to give us a belly laugh. No, of course John Travolta isn’t a sad, sweaty pervert who assaults and gropes strange men in hotel rooms across America (and Australia, and Canada, and…). OF COURSE NOT. How could he when his problem is obviously being a closeted cross-dresser? That seems to be The Enquirer’s take – after running so many stories about Travolta boning dark, lithe men in spas, now The Enquirer is all about Travolta loving to cross-dress.

He’s been accused of sexually assaulting male masseurs – but today John Travolta was heaped with fresh embarrassment after photos surfaced of him cross-dressing. The Pulp Fiction star appears in full drag – and the pictures, published in this National Enquirer, are allegedly not for a film role.

In the snaps, the 58-year-old actor is wearing a white dress, brown belt, fur stole, earrings and a necklace. A bra is even visible beneath the knit frock. He also wears a face full of makeup, including thick black eyeliner and pearly pink lipstick as well as a blonde wig pulled back into a ponytail.

The photos were obtained by The National Enquirer from a party in Los Angeles that John attended in 1997, just six years after marrying Kelly Preston. In another bitter twist of fate, the magazine claims that his wife of over twenty years has left him in the wake of his cross-dressing scandal.

A ‘friend’ of the actress’ says: ‘Kelly told me their marriage is over and made it clear that she’s no longer living in the family home. She’s put up with John’s double life for decades while his behaviour remained in the shadows. But all this coming out in public has humiliated her. Kelly is absolutely destroyed.’

No doubt his children, Ella, 12, and Benjamin, 18 months, will be affected by this recent scandal.

John is certainly no stranger to dressing up in drag. He wore women’s clothing on the big screen as Edna Turnblad in the 2007 silver screen adaptation of Broadway musical Hairspray. Though his tongue-in-cheek role had many laughing, this current photo scandal is certainly no laughing matter in the wake of recent reports that he sexually assaulted male masseurs.

[From The Mail]

At some point, does the media’s treatment of Travolta’s alleged (LOL) homosexuality become offensive? What I’m saying is 1) first the media treated John Travolta with kid gloves, even in the wake of now seven (or more) men claiming that Travolta assaulted them. I think the media would be treating Travolta differently if this was a heterosexual scandal, if women were accusing Travolta of assault. 2) Now the tabloid media is throwing outdated stereotypes at Travolta – like, because he’s “gay” he must be a “cross-dresser” too, when there is a lot of psychological data to suggest that many cross-dressing men identify as heterosexual, and many gay men do not cross-dress. Do I need to make a VENN diagram?

That being said, would I believe John Travolta is a “secret” cross-dresser? Eh. I believe John has a “secret” life where he does all manner of things that would shock and appall me. I think cross-dressing is pretty much a non-starter, if true.

‘Hairspray’ stills, courtesy of All Movie Photos.