Robert De Niro appeared in a New York court beginning on Monday, October 30, 2023, to resolve two lawsuits with a former employee. He gave grumpy testimonies about Graham Chase Robinson. It was clear he was not too happy about the whole situation.
Robinson is countersuing De Niro for $12 million. Robinson alleges he violated her human rights during her 11-year employment with Canal Productions. The actor admitted on the stand to raising his voice, berating her, and calling her names.
Andrew Macurdy, Robinson’s lawyer, challenged De Niro on the stand. He asked hard-hitting questions about Robinson’s employment history including how De Niro reacted when Robinson did not wake him in time for an important meeting. “Yeah, fine, I berated her,” De Niro admitted.
Macurdy pushed De Niro further. He got him to admit he may have called Robinson “petulant,” “snippy,” and a “[expletive] spoiled brat.” This is not a great look. De Niro raised his voice several times during the day’s proceedings.
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De Niro drew the line at admitting he yelled at his former assistant. “I’ve raised my voice,” he stated. “I don’t yell. You wanna dispute that? That’s one thing I don’t do.”
Robinson left Canal in 2019. She rose through the ranks at the company, beginning as De Niro’s assistant and leaving as vice president for production and finance. After she left, the company filed a lawsuit for $6 million, claiming she misused company funds for personal gain. The company also claimed she watched Netflix while on the clock.
Robinson filed a $12 million countersuit in response. She claims that Canal violated the New York City Human Rights Law. She also accused De Niro of being sexist. She did not understand why she made less than male employee Dan Harvey.
De Niro denies all of Robinson’s claims. “What does Dan Harvey have to do with her?” he asked. “God knows why she felt like she should make the same. 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 did not admit to paying his male employees more than his female ones. “Give me a break with that nonsense … For her to use that is so ridiculous,” he stated.
He later interjected angrily: “Every little thing she’s trying to get me on is nonsense! Shame on you, Chase Robinson.” This was in response to a question about him allegedly asking Robinson to scratch his back.
There seems to be much tension around Robinson’s relationship and treatment of De Niro’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen. Chen gave birth to De Niro's seventh child in April. It does not appear as if the women liked each other very much. Text messages and emails between Chen and De Niro are being used as evidence.
De Niro admitted Chen might not have had kind things to say about Robinson. “But she was annoyed because Robinson was disrespectful to her. Period. And that is unacceptable,” he explained. The civil trial is expected to continue until November 10.
