John Travolta's actress daughter, Ella Bleu Travolta, had an emotional moment on Sunday when she paid tribute to her famous dad at the Dwight D. Opperman Excellence in Leadership Awards.
Ella and John attended the ceremony in Washington, D.C., with the 26-year-old sporting a large gray patterned dress paired with eye-catching dangling earrings and a delicate bracelet. John looked dapper in a black tuxedo, complete with a black bow tie and a light-colored pocket square.
Celebrating John Travolta
© Getty ImagesElla took to the stage on the special night to present her father with the Cultural Icon Award and made a rousing speech about the Grease star.
"For the past 26 years, I've had a front row seat to someone who has never lost their excitement for life. Someone who continues to learn and has a passion to learn," she began.
© WireImage"Someone who gives without ever expecting anything in return. Someone who is kind. So while the world celebrates a cultural icon, my brother Ben and I get to celebrate our hero. Congratulations, Dad."
During his acceptance speech, John spoke on his storied career. "I didn't want to just entertain an audience; I wanted to invite them to feel that whatever I was doing was also possible for them to do as well," he said. "They could dance, they could sing, they could stand up to a bully or even just stand up for their rights."
See Ella in John's directorial debut below...
Paying tribute to John Travolta's legacy
The three other award recipients in Washington, D.C. were Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who won for Service to Justice, HRH Ambassador Reema Bandar Al-Saud for Service to Diplomacy, and Dolly Parton, who posthumously received the Philanthropy award.
David M. Rubenstein, chairman of the awards show, spoke about John's incredible contribution to culture in a press release.
"Through performances of lasting artistry and a brilliant career defined by versatility and resilience, John has shown that cultural icons carry a responsibility: to elevate the human story, to entertain without trivializing, and to remind successive generations of the joys and seriousness of creative expression," he said.
"But perhaps most importantly, John Travolta reminds us that nice guys finish first."
Ella Bleu's journey to stardom
© WWD via Getty ImagesMeanwhile, John's daughter Ella has been making major career moves in recent months, like when she walked in Miu Miu's Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2027 show at Paris Fashion Week in October.
She also starred in John's directorial debut, Propeller One-Way Night Coach in May, and the Pulp Fiction actor shared insight into the casting choice.
© Getty Images"I had this plan of introducing Ella to the world as an adult in this very Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly kind of way, and so I did everything I could to really set the scene for this kind of introduction, and it's made a big impact so far. I'm so proud of her," he said on the Today show.
John welcomed his daughter in 2000 with his wife, Kelly Preston, who sadly passed away in 2020 following a battle with breast cancer. They also shared a son, Jett, who died in 2009 at age 16, and the couple welcomed their youngest son, Benjamin, in 2010.
