Ric Ocasek’s son Chris claims The Cars singer neglected him: ‘My father, in essence, died the day I was born’
In 2019, Ric Ocasek passed away in his New York City apartment at age 75 from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ric Ocasek’s eldest son, Chris, isn’t holding back when it comes to how he really feels about his late father.
On the one-year anniversary of the singer’s death on Sept. 15, Chris Otcasek, who uses the original spelling of the family name, went to Instagram where he posted a photo of himself with the star and brother Adam. He captioned the photo: “You don’t exist. We didn’t either.”
The 56-year-old also used hashtags that hinted at a broken relationship, such as #throwawaykids, #failedlegacy and #lieafterlie, among others.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Wednesday, Chris claimed to Page Six he didn’t hear from The Cars frontman for most of his childhood until the band started hitting the charts, such as “Shake It Up” and “You Might Think.”
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Ric Ocasek of The Cars performing at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England for the TV show, 'Rock Goes To College' on November 22, 1978. (Ebet Roberts/Getty Images)
“There may have been a touch of guilt, but I also think he wanted to say he was becoming famous and I think that gets into one of the more universal things in that he was just simply a narcissist,” said Chris.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“He didn’t have the sort of conscience to keep him grounded so he just kept going and always went for the next thing even if that meant abandoning or neglecting children,” he continued. “That was fine with him. I don’t think he thought much about it.”
Reps for Ocasek and his estate did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Chris’ mother is Constance Campbell, Ocasek’s first wife. They originally tied the knot in 1963. According to the outlet, the rock star divorced Campbell in 1971 while she was pregnant with their second child. That same year, he married his second wife, Suzanne Ocasek. The couple went on to have two sons, Eron and Derek.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Then in 1984, the then-40-year-old met 18-year-old Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova while filming the music video for “Drive.” In 1988 Ocasek and his second wife called it quits. In 1989, Ocasek and Porizkova married and together, they welcomed two sons named Jonathan and Oliver.
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Ocasek and Porizkova were married for 28 years before their breakup in 2018.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chris admitted that, growing up, he struggled with his father’s fame. The Cars, in particular, appeared regularly on MTV during his teen years.
“There were a lot of preconceived notions,” he said. “In retrospect, I wish I’d been a bit more protected from that. I didn’t want to be reminded every 15 seconds that I didn’t have my dad in my life. It was hard.”
In 2019, Ocasek passed away in his New York City apartment at age 75 from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. At the time, he was recovering from surgery.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PAULINA PORIZKOVA FEELS 'HEARTBREAK AND RAGE' OVER DEATH OF HUSBAND
Ric Ocasek of The Cars and Paulina Porizkova attend the 33rd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018, in Cleveland, Ohio. A month after The Cars' induction, Porizkova announced she and Ocasek had split a year earlier. (Getty)
The outlet shared that at one point, Chris had a record deal with Capitol Records in the late ‘80s. Today he is a video game lead artist.
Chris insisted that while he and Ocasek stayed in touch over the phone, they only saw each other “once a year or so.” In addition, Chris moved to Los Angeles from New York to “get as far away geographically from him as I could.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I was living a few blocks from him for a year or two and saw him once maybe and I just decided I had to get as far away as possible as I could,” he added.
Artist Chris Otcasek attends The Art Of Elysium's 7th Annual Pieces Of Heaven at Siren Studios on February 26, 2014, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for Art of Elysium)
Chris told the outlet that he’s now doing “OK” despite his past.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“My father, in essence, died the day I was born,” he claimed. “He was never present, he was never there. Even when he was, he was never there and that’s the abandonment that I’m referring to.”