Los Angeles, Jun 23 (IANS): John Travolta has landed into another legal problem after an author who wrote a book about the Hollywood star's alleged gay encounters has filed a libel case against him.

Robert Randolph insists that the star and his attorney discredited him by falsely claiming the writer had mental issues, reports thesun.co.uk.

The claims were swiftly dismissed by Travolta as "absurd" and "meritless".

The author says that comments made by the star damaged sales of "You'll Never Spa In This Town Again", which tries to reveal the "Grease" star's romps in massage parlours.

A statement from Travolta's spokesman said: "The lawsuit filed by Robert Randolph is absurd. The suit is based on a privileged communication, and it will promptly be thrown out by the court.

"To evaluate the credibility of Robert Randolph and his ridiculous lawsuit one needs look no further than his own statements published on his website stating that he sustained 'permanent brain damage' and had to 'retrain' his brain.

"Mr. Travolta will aggressively defend himself against this lawsuit and expects to be fully vindicated when this meritless case is dismissed."

The actor's lawyer Marty Singer has also called the suit "ridiculous" and plans to take legal action "for malicious prosecution after the court promptly dismisses this baseless lawsuit".

The new lawsuit comes a month after the 58-year-old was rocked by allegations that he sexually assaulted two male masseurs in separate incidents.