Actor Robert De Niro shouted, “Shame on you!” While testifying Tuesday in a New York courtroom, he directed the comments toward His former executive assistant And the vice president who He seeks millions of dollars After she accused her former boss of abuse.
Graham Chase Robinson watched with her attorney as De Niro’s anger escalated as attorney Andrew McCurdy pelted him with some tabloid-style accusations his client had made regarding De Niro’s behavior toward Robinson as she served his needs, large and small, from 2008 until several months into 2019.
Robinson, 41, is seeking $12 million for emotional distress and damage to her reputation, which she claims has left her unemployed and unable to recover from the trauma of working for De Niro. She was making $300,000 a year when she quit, frustrated with her interactions with De Niro’s girlfriend and the influence she believed the girlfriend was having on the actor.
The jury is also considering evidence related to De Niro’s lawsuit against Robinson in which he claims she stole items from him, including 5 million points that can be used for flights. De Niro is seeking to restore Robinson’s salary for three years.
McCurdy asked De Niro if it was true that he sometimes urinated while talking to Robinson on the phone.
“That’s bullshit,” De Niro replied. “Did you bring us all here for this?”
Elizabeth Williams/AP
McCurdy told De Niro that he called Robinson a “b-to her face.”
“I was never abusive at all,” the actor responded, though he admitted he may have used the word in conversations with her.
The allegation that he told Robinson he would rather have his back scratched than use a back scratcher prompted another angry rebuke from De Niro, who said it may have happened once or twice, but it was “never disrespectful or lewd.”
Finally, he angrily looked at Robinson and shouted, “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”
He quickly apologized in a calmer voice, looking at Judge Louis J. Lehman.
“I wasn’t offensive. I was just upset.”
The actor admitted that there were no written rules for those who worked with him because, he said, he relied on “common sense rules.” He said he promoted Robinson to vice president of his company, Canal Productions, at her request, but added that her duties had not changed.
Sometimes, De Niro would flatly deny something, only to later admit that it might be true in a different way than what has been suggested.
When asked if he had ever yelled at Robinson when she was in Europe and failed to call him and remind him of an important meeting in California, De Niro said he had not, but quickly added: “I raised my voice.”
He said: I got angry once. “I scolded her. I wasn’t offensive. I was upset.”
“I called her a brat,” McCurdy said.
“I could have done that,” De Niro replied.
At times, De Niro looked like he wanted to leave the witness stand.
“I don’t have time for this,” he once said.
He rejected McCurdy’s suggestion to sue Robinson before she sued him because he wanted publicity.
“It draws attention to me. That’s the last thing I wanted to do,” De Niro said.
De Niro, 80, won two Oscars in a six-decade film career that included memorable roles in films including “The Deer Hunter” and “Raging Bull.” Currently, he is in Martin Scorsese’s The Moonflower Killers.
Formerly CBS New York mentioned A profanity-laced audio message allegedly from De Niro surfaced in 2019 along with accusations of discrimination and harassment.
“You live in Spain and you [expletive] Upset with me. Tell me how nice you and your life are there and you [expletive] Don’t answer my calls. how dare you. You’re about to get fired. You are on [expletive] History,” the voicemail says.
The 19-page lawsuit also states that De Niro made jokes about his Viagra prescription and asked her to perform stereotypical female duties, such as cleaning his apartment and mending his clothes, CBS New York reported.
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