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Barry Diller Says John Travolta Exited ‘American Gigolo’ Because of “Somewhat Gay Subtext”

The movie ended up starring Richard Gere in a breakthrough role, with Diller adding that Gere "would go on to break up my relationship with Diane [von Furstenberg]."

In his book, Diller writes that Travolta told then-Paramount Pictures president Michael Eisner he couldn’t lead the project because he was grieving the death of his mother and then-girlfriend Diana Hyland. Despite Travolta’s hesitation about continuing on with American Gigolo, Diller sat the actor down and tried to convince him to disregard his “twerpy, inexperienced manager.” Richard Gere ended up nabbing the lead role of Julian Kay right as he was “coming off his breakout debut in our film Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” Diller writes.

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