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with Travolta. He was lming Urban Cowboy at the time. On her own initiative, she
came to “recover” him for the church. She had heard that he was having problems in his
life, and she worried that her own troubles had prevented him from turning to the
church for help. It was also possible that if she brought Travolta back into the fold, her
standing in the church would be improved.
Like most celebrities, Travolta had been shielded from the church’s inner workings.
The scandals that periodically erupted in the press about Hubbard’s biography, or his
disappearance, or the church’s use of private investigators and the courts to harass
critics—these things rarely touched the awareness of Scientology luminaries. Many
simply didn’t want to hear about the problems inside their organization. It was easy
enough to chalk such revelations up to religious persecution or yellow journalism.
“There are two sides to the story, but I don’t know both sides,” Travolta blithely said
when he was asked about Operation Snow White. “I’m not involved with that.” In any
case, for someone like Travolta, who was so publicly associated with the church, it
would be hard to just walk away. He had been asked to declare himself publicly, and he
had done so, again and again.
The star was staying in a private house in Houston. He and Taylor met in the
evening, after dinner, over a plate of chocolate-chip cookies that she had brought. She
explained that she had left the Sea Org and was with her children now, then quickly
changed the subject and asked about him. He described the problems he was having.
Former Scientologists have given conicting accounts of Travolta’s stressful
relationship with the church at that time. The church hierarchy was desperately
concerned that their most valuable member would be revealed as gay; at the same time,
the hierarchy was prepared to use that against him. Bill Franks, the church’s former
executive director, told Time magazine that Travolta was worried that if he defected, the
church would expose his sexual identity. Jesse Prince has stated that Travolta was
threatening to marry a man, although that wasn’t a legal option at the time. In Franks’s
opinion, the church had Travolta trapped. At one point, the star sought assurance from
Franks that his private confessions wouldn’t be used against him. “My sessions are
protected, right?” he asked Franks. In truth, intelligence ocers inside the church had
already been directed to gather material—called a Dead Agent pack—that would be
used against Travolta if he turned.
In Houston, however, Travolta told Taylor that he didn’t really feel that he needed to
be recovered—he was just taking a break. However, Taylor did persuade him to buy a
costly package of auditing so that he could get back on the Bridge. He had stopped his
coursework after completing OT III.
After that, Taylor received a letter from Hubbard saying, “Well done.” The founder
asked if there was anything she needed. She asked nothing for herself, but begged
Hubbard to do a “Folder Error Summary” on Travolta, in which the founder would
personally review all the star’s auditing over the years to spot any mistakes—a
tremendous honor for any Scientologist. A Messenger assured her that it would be done.
Not long afterward, however, Travolta stopped talking to Taylor. She got a call from
Priscilla Presley, who asked what was going on. Presley had run into Travolta and he