SLATER KIN WAR
Christian smeared me as schizo: dad’s $20M suit
ACTOR CHRISTIAN Slater caused some damage to his dad, according to a new lawsuit naming the “Heathers” and “Mr. Robot” star.
Slater’s father, Thomas Knight Slater, sued his son for $20 million in a defamation lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The elder Slater, known by his stage name Michael Hawkins, claims in his filing that his ex-wife and famous son destroyed his acting career with public claims he suffers from manic-depressive schizophrenia.
He said the duo “intentionally maligned and defamed him, and caused him to be blacklisted in the show business community.” The 80-year-old Hawkins was born in New York and originated the role of Frank Ryan on the ABC soap opera “Ryan’s Hope” in 1976.
His last film appearance was a small part in “Midnight Run” in 1988, when he acted under the name Michael Gainsborough.
“Neither of the defendants has a medical credential, or the ability to diagnose manic-depressive schizophrenia, and even if that were the case, they would be bound not to disclose it to the general public,” Hawkins wrote in the complaint.
He personally prepared and signed the lawsuit without a lawyer.
“With this latest pummeling of his character he believes that any hope of ever acting again has been dashed into pieces,” he wrote.
Attempts to reach a representative for the younger Slater were not successful Wednesday.
Hawkins says he’s suffered humiliation, invasion of privacy, emotional distress, business interference and the “destabilizing of his well-being.”
He is suing for $20 million in compensatory damages, with punitive damages to be decided by a jury.