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Christian Slater Wins Lawsuit Against His Father, Who Claimed ‘Mr. Robot’ Actor Defamed Him

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 03:53 PST, Aug 31, 2016

Christian Slater is slandering and defaming his father, according to the New York Daily News. Or at least that’s what Thomas Knight Slater, the father of the Mr. Robot actor, thinks.

But it appears that a Los Angeles judge, Suzanne Bruguera, doesn’t believe a word Thomas Slater says, as she rejected the $20 million slander lawsuit filed against Christian Slater. The ruling was made by the judge after the actor’s 77-year-old father appeared in court without a lawyer.

Earlier this month, Thomas Slater addressed the court with a loud speech, in which he accused his son, Christian Slater, of slandering and defaming him. At one point of his speech, Thomas Slater raised his voice, and the judge requested him to lower it.

“While the defendant has a right to freedom of speech, he has no right to slander and defame.”

And after the judge ruled that Christian Slater’s father’s case lacked “significant legal grounding,” Thomas Slater, who is better known by his stage name Michael Hawkins, said he would be appealing the decision.

“Christian is not going to get away with this.”

It all started with Christian Slater saying in one of his interviews that his father had a case of manic-depressive schizophrenia. In February of this year, Thomas Slater filed a motion in court, claiming that his son and his former wife Mary Jo Slater destroyed his acting career with those claims.

But Christian Slater didn’t hesitate for long, and he asked the court to toss out the lawsuit, claiming that his father was diagnosed with manic-depressive schizophrenia in 1972, when he was taken to a Manhattan hospital in a straightjacket after threatening to kill his young son (Christian) and his wife.

But Thomas Slater calls Christian Slater’s claims about the diagnosis a lie and then laughed after saying that he wants to speak to a jury of his peers, “if there is such a thing since I’m superior to everyone else.”

“I have to prove to a jury that Mary Jo and Christian lied. That’s what it comes down to. Unless that’s done, my life is over.”

Thomas Slater was born in Queens in December of 1938 and had a successful decades-long acting career, especially with his role of Frank Ryan on 1976’s ABC soap opera Ryan’s Hope. The father of Christian Slater, who claims he made “a great living as an actor,” last appeared in a film in a small role in Midnight Run in 1988, nearly 30 years ago.

Christian Slater is already considered to be more successful than his father. The actor, who turned 47-years-old earlier this month, is best known for his roles in films Heathers, True Romance, Broken Arrow, and his current TV series, Mr. Robot.

Christian Slater, who won a Golden Globe award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his work on Mr. Robot earlier this year, claims he financially supported his dad in the period between 1992 and 2010 with the condition that his father would see a psychiatrist to treat his schizophrenia.

Just last week, Mr. Robot was renewed for Season 3, which is set to air in 2017, according to Deadline. The news comes while the USA Network’s series starring Christian Slater is halfway through Season 2.

Mr. Robot was created by Sam Esmail and Universal Cable Prods and stars Christian Slater and Rami Malek. The TV show, which is the USA Network’s most critically acclaimed series ever, is focused on the life of Elliot, who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and is a vigilante hacker by night.

The TV show received six Emmy nominations this year, including one for the Best Drama Series and Best Actor for Rami Malek. Christian Slater, meanwhile, won the Golden Globe award for best supporting actor in the series.

[Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP Images]

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