Actor Christian Slater is facing a $20 million defamation lawsuit brought about by his own father, fellow actor Michael Hawkins.
The New York Daily News reports that Slater’s father, Thomas Knight Slater, who goes by the stage name Michael Hawkins, accuses his ex-wife Mary Jo Slater and the Heathers actor of causing him to lose his acting career by publicly saying he has manic-depressive schizophrenia. Hawkins filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in Los Angeles. According to the complaint, his son and former wife “intentionally maligned and defamed him, and caused him to be blacklisted in the show business community.”
Hawkins, 80, hasn’t acted since 1988, when he starred in the film Midnight Run , under the stage name Michael Gainsborough. Arguably, his most well-known part was the role of Frank Ryan on the hit ABC soap opera, Ryan’s Hope . He also appeared in the soap As the World Turns as well as the films The Amityville Horror and Trucker’s Woman .
Hawkins wrote, prepared, and submitted his own complaint to the court, which indicated his famous son and former wife didn’t have the medical expertise or knowledge to accuse him of having manic-depressive schizophrenia.
The complaint reads, “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.”
#ChristianSlater #ThomasKnightSlater #MichaelHawkins https://t.co/WIjuR4aEi7 pic.twitter.com/hAAz3X2gxN
— WhyTheCagedBirdSings (@Karimahn) February 25, 2016
Due to the alleged statements made by his son and former wife, Hawkins claims he’s not only suffered problems with his acting career, but the comments also caused him to become depressed and humiliated. He also complained that privacy has been invaded.
The complaint also states that his son’s statement caused him to become “blacklisted” in Hollywood, meaning that the entertainment industry refused to give him roles after learning of what Slater and his ex-wife said. He now “believes that any hope of ever acting again has been dashed into pieces.”
Although Slater hasn’t commented on his father’s lawsuit, People reports that last year, the actor did indeed state that his dad is a manic-depressive schizophrenic.
During a 2015 chat with Interview magazine, Slater said, “I haven’t seen him in a few years. We just spoke recently. He’s a manic-depressive schizophrenic. He’s always had trouble – he was a fantastic actor and extraordinarily charismatic and very, very good looking, but he had a really difficult time working with directors, collaborating with people.”
Slater also said that he’s been working on a relationship with his father, which he was grateful for. Prior to the reconnection, that actor had been estranged from his dad for nine years.
“My father actually reached out to me and wanted to reconcile and reconnect. I was very grateful to be able to communicate with him. From a tumultuous, back-and-forth relationship, we were able to begin to build a better bridge for the both of us. So that was good.”
Meanwhile, the True Romance star is doing exceptionally well with his own acting career, including winning the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe award this year for his role in Mr. Robot . When Slater took to the stage to accept his award, he gave a heartfelt speech, stating that he’s extremely happy and honored.
“So I’m just kind of glad to be here right now, and very grateful and very happy, and I pretty much love everybody in the room, so I hope to be able to spread that as my form of celebration.”
Christian Slater also stars as Ushari in the animated series The Lion Guard and recently wrapped up a new film, entitled King Cobra , scheduled for release this year.
[Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images]