The personal life of Robert De Niro may not be steeped in darkness, but it certainly lacks pleasantness

 

In the courtroom, a gruff, bespectacled figure – none other than Robert De Niro – declared, ‘Shame on you!’ His voice, weathered by age, rang with indignation. Whether he rose in passion or shook a fist in the air, the scene in that Manhattan courthouse was straight out of a Netflix legal drama. What heightened the drama even more was the presence of an A-list celebrity in the lead role, and this time, he wasn’t playing a character.

De Niro, the veteran actor, did indeed utter those words across a New York courtroom yesterday. This outburst was swiftly followed by a muttered apology to the presiding judge in his highly publicised civil trial. The two-time Oscar winner, now 80, is facing a $12 million (£9.8 million) lawsuit from his former executive assistant and vice president of his production company, Graham Chase Robinson. She claims he was an abusive employer, seeking damages for severe emotional distress and harm to her reputation. In return, De Niro refutes the allegations as ‘nonsense’ and is counter-suing Robinson for $6 million (£4.9 million), accusing her of misusing substantial company funds for personal travel and meals. Additionally, Robinson is accused of ‘lazing around during work hours’ and indulging in extensive Netflix binge-watching.

Since the commencement of his testimony earlier this week, De Niro has, according to every reporter present, been notably irate, expressing his frustration through raised voices, impatience, and sharp retorts. TMZ succinctly described him as ‘pissed off’. Following a particularly heated exchange with one of Robinson’s lawyers, the judge was compelled to intervene and remind both parties to maintain decorum.

One might be tempted to argue that this courtroom behaviour has unveiled a different aspect of the beloved actor. Yet, hasn’t De Niro always been the archetypal grumpy elder statesman of Hollywood? With iconic roles in films like ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Casino’, ‘Taxi Driver’, and most recently ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, spanning six decades, De Niro, arguably the finest actor of his generation, crafted a reputation as a solitary figure, a tough character, a cantankerous soul even before he truly embraced his grey hair. (There exists an entire article devoted to his ‘Best Curmudgeon Roles’.) Off-screen as well, this persona persists. De Niro is famously intolerant of foolishness, be it from Donald Trump (of whom the usually reserved actor is an unusually vocal critic) or a well-meaning yet befuddled reporter.

In 2015, De Niro made headlines when he abruptly left a Radio Times interview, objecting to its ‘negative inference’. Journalist Emma Brockes recounted that De Niro took issue with a question – ‘How is it that you manage not to be on autopilot?’ – before instructing her to turn off the recorder. He then stood up and began pacing ‘frantically’. ‘All the way through. Negative inference. The whole way through and I’m not doing it. I’m not doing it, darling,’ De Niro told Brockes before seeking someone to escort him out. Brockes later expressed ‘sympathy’ for De Niro, acknowledging that he was understandably ‘grumpy and exhausted’ after a long day of interviews but criticized his ‘hostility and condescension’.

That same year, De Niro had pointed words for the CEOs of Flickr and Slack at the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards. Tech mogul Stewart Butterfield, addressing the ‘supermodels and movie stars’ in attendance, received a lukewarm response from De Niro, who wasn’t amused by the jesting comments. Taking the stage after Butterfield, De Niro bluntly stated: ‘Whoever the last speaker was … I thought you were a bit condescending to us actors … celebrities. I’m gonna go on record with you just to say that. And I don’t give a f*** who you are.’ All of these incidents – his preference for privacy, impatience in interviews, and willingness to speak his mind – have amalgamated into a portrayal of De Niro as Hollywood’s irascible elder.

The allegations against De Niro range from the peculiar to the troubling. (The court heard that he once asked Robinson to have a ‘particular’ martini from the upscale Nobu sushi lounge delivered to him at 11pm.) On the more serious end are accusations of ‘gratuitous unwanted physical contact’, such as De Niro purportedly requesting Robinson to scratch his back. When she suggested using a back-scratcher instead, he allegedly responded: ‘I like the way you do it.’ While De Niro conceded he might have made the request once or twice, he maintains it was ‘never with disrespect or lewdness’. It was this particular allegation that triggered the ‘shame on you’ outburst; De Niro seemed particularly distressed by any insinuation of inappropriate behaviour on his part.

‘At times, De Niro would flatly deny something, only to later admit that there might be truth to it in a manner different to how it was suggested,’ notes Larry Neumeister of Associated Press. One instance could be the actor’s assertion that he was ‘never abusive, ever’. This declaration hinges on one’s interpretation of the term, as De Niro later concedes he may have called Robinson a ‘b**** to her face’ and acknowledged that on one occasion, after she failed to remind him of an important meeting in California, he had ‘berated’ her and possibly referred to her as a ‘brat’.

In response to allegations that he called her twice during her grandmother’s funeral to request buying a bus ticket for his teenage son, the actor, as reported by the BBC, responded with a curt “So?” When questioned about the assertion that he expected Robinson to be at his disposal for “anything and everything,” including tasks like decorating his Christmas tree and mending his clothes, De Niro informed the court, “I asked her to do anything within reason, within the scope of her job. It’s not as if I’m instructing her to scrub floors, so this is all nonsense.” He vehemently denied the claims that he engages in such behaviour as urinating while on the phone with her, exclaiming, “Give me a break!”

De Niro has long been known for his cantankerous demeanor (his perpetually furrowed brow is undoubtedly a part of his persona and charm), but this trial peels back the layers on the actor, reminding us that seemingly benign labels (like ‘grumpy’) can conceal something more malevolent beneath the surface.