Robert De Niro hit out at “nonsense” claims from his former personal assistant as he gave evidence in a trial where he is accused of being an abusive boss.
The two-time Oscar winner, 80, faces allegations he subjected Graham Chase Robinson to foul-mouthed tirades and made her carry out unusual and demeaning tasks when she worked for him between 2008 and 2019.
But giving evidence in a New York City trial, De Niro grumpily rejected the claims against him and at one point exclaimed: “This is all nonsense.”
Ms Robinson was paid $300,000 (£246,000) a year to work as the actor’s vice president of production and finance, and says she was tasked for years with everything from decorating De Niro’s Christmas tree to taking him to the hospital when he fell down stairs.
She says she was made to scratch the actor’s back, button his shirts, and prod him awake when he was sleeping.
She is now suing him for $12 million (£9.8 million) in damages, claiming she suffered severe emotional distress and reputational harm.
But De Niro’s legal team have countered that Ms Robinson had misused her access to his finances over the years, including paying for lavish holidays, Uber rides, and dogsitters, buying designer handbags, and treating herself to expensive dinners and gadgets.
The court has heard claims Ms Robinson quit in 2019 after a series of clashes with De Niro’s girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45. She says the star refused to give her a reference to find another job.
In his evidence, the star of Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and current hit Killers of the Flower Moon confirmed he had listed Ms Robinson as his emergency contact and relied on her to help with greeting cards for his children.
Asked if he considered her a conscientious employee, he replied: “Not after everything I’m going through now.”
When Ms Robinson’s lawyer asked him about a 2017 incident when he called her after 4am to take him to the hospital, De Niro snapped back: “That was one time when I cracked my back falling down the stairs.” He said his then wife, Grace Hightower, “was sleeping”, so he called on Ms Robinson instead.
De Niro, who became a father for the seventh time in May, insisted that he treated Ms Robinson well after he bought a Manhattan townhouse and let her oversee preparations so he could move there with his girlfriend. “It is not like I’m asking for her to go out there and scrape floors and mop the floor,” he said. “So this is all nonsense.”
The court has seen messages between De Niro and Ms Chen, showing her increasing suspicion that Ms Robinson had “imaginary intimacy” with the actor. Ms Chen wrote: “It’s all very weird and she is not easing up with the weird s**t either. I do feel it’s getting worse.”
Ms Robinson’s lawyer Andrew Macurdy told the court she struggled to find a job after leaving De Niro’s employment, and claimed she had been subjected to name-calling and angry tirades while working for the star.
De Niro denies the allegations, saying he treated Ms Robinson well but she “always thought she deserved more”.
The trial continues.
