Robert De Niro has appeared in court docket to disclaim “nonsense” claims from his ex-assistant after she sued him for alleged abusive behaviour.
The double Oscar winner hit out on the claims by Graham Chase Robinson, who labored for him between 2008 and 2019, throughout an ill-tempered court docket listening to in New York.
Ms Robinson is suing De Niro for $12m (£9.9m) in damages for “severe emotional distress and reputational harm”, claiming he shouted at her and known as her abusive names, in step with sexist remarks he made about ladies typically.
The former worker, who was paid $300,000 (£247,000) a 12 months, stated she was additionally tasked with all the pieces from adorning the star’s Christmas tree to taking him to the hospital in the course of the evening when he fell down stairs.
Ms Robinson stated De Niro refused to offer her a job reference when she give up after repeated clashes along with his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen. She additionally felt afraid to go away her home after leaving her function because the actor’s vp of manufacturing and finance.
Ms Robinson’s attorneys additionally urged Ms Chen was jealous of her accomplice’s assistant, however stated there was nothing romantic occurring.
De Niro appeared to react angrily to the claims as he took to the stand on Monday, and raised his voice a number of occasions throughout his testimony.
The 80-year-old agreed he had listed Ms Robinson as his emergency contact and had relied on her with duties equivalent to serving to with greeting playing cards for his youngsters.
But when requested if he thought Ms Robinson had been a conscientious worker, he shot again: “Not after everything I’m going through now.”
De Niro additionally raised his voice in obvious anger when his former assistant’s lawyer urged he had bothered her early within the morning to take him to the hospital in 2017.
He replied: “That was one time when I cracked my back falling down the stairs.”
The actor stated he went to mattress after the accident, which occurred at round 1am or 2am, and delayed summoning her till 4am or 5am.
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In one other tense second, Judge Lewis Liman intervened to elucidate the principles of testimony to De Niro and identified that there have been limits to what he might say.
“Can I ask a question?” De Niro requested in one other alternate with Ms Robinson’s lawyer. The request was denied.
The actor, who just lately starred in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, insisted he handled Ms Robinson nicely even after he purchased a five-bedroom Manhattan townhouse and let her oversee a few of the preparations so he might transfer there with Ms Chen.
The actor continued: “It is not like I’m asking for her to go out there and scrape floors and mop the floor. So this is all nonsense.”
Correspondence between De Niro and Ms Chen was additionally proven to jurors, by which his accomplice expressed suspicion about Ms Robinson’s motives.
‘Condescending, demeaning and abusive’
In one message, Ms Chen stated she thought De Niro’s assistant was appearing like she was his spouse, and believed that she had “imaginary intimacy” with him.
“She felt there was something there and she may have been right,” De Niro informed the court docket.
Ms Robinson’s attorneys informed the court docket their shopper by no means had a romantic curiosity in her boss.
Attorney Andrew Macurdy stated Chen appeared to resent that De Niro relied on his assistant for thus many duties and that they communicated so nicely collectively.
He added: “There was never anything romantic between the two of them.”
De Niro’s lawyer, Richard Schoenstein, stated Robinson was handled very nicely by the star “but always thought she deserved more.”
He added that the actor was “kind, reasonable, generous,” whereas his assistant was “condescending, demeaning, controlling, abusive” and “always played the victim.”
The case continues.
The lawsuit comes solely months after De Niro turned a father for the seventh time, age the age of 79.
In July he spoke of his devastation after his grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, died aged 19 after allegedly being bought fentanyl-laced drugs.
Source: information.sky.com”