Randall Emmett directs John Travolta film under pseudonym following scandal

Film producer and director Randall Emmett has directed a new heist movie starring John Travolta under a pseudonym following a string of abuse allegations and accusations of mistreatment of business partners, all of which he has denied.

Emmett, 53, is now using the mononym Ives, which is his middle name.

As well as producing films including The Irishman, 2 Guns and Gotti, which also starred Travolta, Emmett is known for his appearances on the reality show Vanderpump Rules as the partner of Lala Kent.

He was the subject of the 2023 Hulu documentary The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing, and Vanderpump, which detailed his 2021 break-up with Kent as well as accusations from assistants that he had consistently created hostile workplaces.

Emmett first used Ives professionally to direct Cash Out, the Travolta-led action heist movie that was released on VOD today (26 April). He will also use the name for the sequel, which has already been filmed on location at the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in Mississippi.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Ives was also listed as the director of the forthcoming Sylvester Stallone movie Armored but was replaced shortly before shooting began by a newcomer named Justin Routt.

“Justin Routt didn’t direct a thing,” Steve Noell, the prop master on Armored, told the LA Times. “He was just there. Randall was the one who called all the shots.”

The Independent has approached Emmett for comment.

Emmett is known for creating low-budget action films by paying A-list stars such as Stallone, Travolta and Bruce Willis huge fees for limited work. According to reports, Stallone was paid $3.5m for just a day’s work on Armored.

Emmett’s former production company, Emmett/Furla Oasis, collapsed several years ago after being hit by multiple lawsuits from business partners over unpaid bills.

In 2022, Emmett’s former fiancé Kent claimed that he had been dating a 23-year-old the same month their daughter Ocean was born in March 2021.

“Let’s talk about it,” the 31-year-old Bravo celebrity wrote on social media. “I was alone during most of my pregnancy and for the first 7 months of her life, until the mask fell and I saw who he really was.”

“He started a relationship with a 23 year old in March of 2021 — the month I gave birth,” she revealed. The reality star said that her Emmett “travelled” with the unnamed woman while she was home with their now 11-month-old daughter.

Kent ended their three-year engagement in October 2021, after images surfaced of Emmett allegedly cheating on Kent in Nashville with two women.