John Travolta has vehemently denied claims he made "predatory" sexual advances towards a masseur.

The actor is being sued by the unnamed man, who also alleges the star made anti-Semitic comments.

In the "sexual battery" lawsuit, Travolta is said to have tried to touch the masseur inappropriately at a five-star Beverly Hills Hotel.

Legal papers also allege the actor said during the encounter that "Hollywood is controlled by homosexual Jewish men who expect favours in return for sexual activity".

The masseur, named only as John Doe, is demanding £1.2 million (Dh7.1 million) for "emotional distress".

But in a statement Travolta, who has been married to actress Kelly Preston for 21 years, said the allegations were "a complete fiction and a fabrication" and that he wasn't even in Beverly Hills at the time. He has threatened to sue the masseur for "malicious prosecution".

The encounter is supposed to have happened on January 16, when the £120-an-hour masseur took a call from the representative of a celebrity client wanting to arrange a session.

It is alleged that Travolta, 58, then picked up the masseur in a black Lexus car from a street corner. The actor was said to be wearing dark glasses and a "very loose-fitting athletic shirt".

The pair then allegedly went to a private bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel where another man, who has not been identified, was cooking hamburgers on the stove.

Travolta is said to have stripped immediately and climbed on to a table for the massage, during which it is claimed he kept lowering his towel to expose himself.

The other man left, at which point Travolta is said to have repeatedly tried to touch the masseur inappropriately as he "snickered to himself like a mischievous child".

The lawsuit states that the masseur made it clear he did not want to have sex, at which point Travolta apparently "began screaming at the plaintiff, telling him how ungrateful he was" and later called him a "loser".

Travolta, whose long career has included films such as Grease, Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction, also allegedly said he became a success thanks to "sexual favours" he gave to others while appearing in 1970s' US television comedy Welcome Back, Kotter.

It is claimed he also suggested to the masseur that they have a threesome with a woman, before he made the anti-Semitic remarks.

The lawsuit alleges the masseur threatened to call the police, before Travolta relented.

It claims the actor is guilty of sexual battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

A spokesman for Travolta said the masseur had launched the lawsuit just to "try and get his 15 minutes of fame".

He claimed that on the day in question the actor was on the East Coast of the US and was not even in California.

The spokesman said: "None of the events claimed in the suit ever occurred. The plaintiff, who refuses to give their name, knows that the suit is a baseless lie.

"It is for that reason that the plaintiff hasn't been identified with a name even though it is required.

"[Travolta] intends to get this case thrown out and then he will sue the attorney and plaintiff for malicious prosecution."