Actor Robert De Niro admitted, in intense court testimony, that sometimes he berated his former assistant, Graham Chase Robinson.
In the second day of the civil trial against the 80-year-old actor’s production company Canal Productions, Robinson’s attorney, Andrew Macurdy, questioned the action about his client’s 11-year employment at the company, asking if De Niro ever called her names. To which, the Oscar winner said he had, according to PEOPLE Magazine.
“Yeah, fine, I berated her,” he said, recalling the time Robinson didn’t wake him in time for an important meeting. He said he might have called her “petulant,” “snippy,” and a “f——g spoiled brat.”
“I’ve raised my voice,” De Niro continued. “I don’t yell. You wanna dispute that? That’s one thing I don’t do.”
In 2019, Robinson resigned from her position at Canal Productions as Vice President for Production and Finance, prompting the company to file a $6 million lawsuit against her. The suit alleged that she excessively binge-watched Netflix shows while on the clock, charged personal meals and groceries to the company’s credit card, and inappropriately used “her employer’s fund for her personal gain” as well as De Niro’s frequent flyer airline miles.
However, Robinson countered the lawsuit, seeking $12 million, and accused De Niro and Canal Productions of violating the New York City Human Rights Law. She claimed that De Niro directed sexist comments at her, assigned her “stereotypically female job duties that were inconsistent with her job title,” and paid her less than her male colleague, Dan Harvey.
Harvey worked as De Niro’s personal trainer during movies dating back to 1991. “What does Dan Harvey have to do with her?” De Niro fired back.
“God knows why she felt like she should make the same [salary]. Dan Harvey has been here for 40 years. He has been with me, left his family, never complained. She is jealous of him?” De Niro asked. “Give me a break with that nonsense… For her to use that is so ridiculous,” he said about the gender pay disparities.
“Every little thing she’s trying to get me on is nonsense! Shame on you, Chase Robinson,” De Niro said in response to claims that he asked her to scratch his back while also apologizing to the Court for his outburst.
