Robert De Niro Sued For Subjecting Employee To Abusive, Creepy Behavior

Fact checked
Robert De Niro has been sued by a former employee for engaging in abusive and creepy behaviour including "unwanted physical touching."

Robert De Niro is a chauvinist pig who subjected a female employee to “unwanted physical touching” and vile sexist behavior, while demanding she work longer and harder than her male colleagues while getting paid less, according to a former employee who has launched a lawsuit against the foul-mouthed and angry Hollywood star.

Graham Chase Robinson claims she was routinely touched, demeaned and abused by the actor — including in vicious foul-mouthed voicemails where he screams that her job was “f–king history!” and called her a “spoiled brat.”

The $12 million lawsuit claims that De Niro, 76, engaged in sexual harassment and does not accept that women should be treated equally.

“Robert De Niro is someone who has clung to old mores. He does not accept the idea that men should treat women as equals,” says Robinson’s complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court. 

“He does not care that gender discrimination in the workplace violates the law. Ms. Robinson is a casualty of this attitude.”

Page6 report: The now 37-year-old Robinson began working for the Hollywood legend’s Canal Productions as an executive assistant in 2008 but says she was “forced to resign” in April after rising to the position of vice president of production and finance. 

The company has separately sued her for embezzling money.

Despite her lofty role, Robinson says the “Goodfellas” star treated her as his subpar “office wife,” making her do “stereotypically female duties, like housework” that included putting away his boxers, washing his sheets and setting his table.

Worse, De Niro terrorized Robinson with creepy conduct — he “urinated during telephone calls” with her and would greet her wearing only his “pajamas or a bathrobe,” the suit says.

And there was also what Robinson describes in court papers as “gratuitous unwanted physical contact.”

“Among other things, De Niro would direct Ms. Robinson to scratch his back, button his shirts and prod him awake when he was in bed,” the complaint says. “De Niro also stood idly by while his friend slapped Ms. Robinson on her buttocks.”

The “Taxi Driver” star’s sexist behavior stretched beyond his interactions with Robinson, she claims. He allegedly once called a female business partner a “c–t” and referred to his executive assistants as “the girls.”

Robinson says she was also on the receiving end of De Niro’s allegedly misogynist comments — including suggesting she could get pregnant using the sperm of a married male colleague.

“He would joke with Ms. Robinson about his Viagra prescription. De Niro smirked to Ms. Robinson about his young paramour, who was around Ms. Robinson’s age,” the suit says. “De Niro directed Ms. Robinson to imagine him on the toilet. He told Ms. Robinson that doing manual labor would ‘make a man out of you.’ ”

De Niro didn’t seem to care that the jokes could be seen as offensive, Robinson says. 

In one instance, after discussing anti-workplace-discrimination policies with Robinson, he allegedly referred to another employee and joked, “Who do you think we can have sexually harass [that person]?” the suit says.

When he wasn’t kidding, however, De Niro was known to explode into expletive-filled tirades, according to court papers.

The 19-page lawsuit includes a link to a 51-second recording of a voicemail she claims De Niro once left her when she didn’t pick up her phone.

“You f–king don’t answer my calls. How dare you? You’re about to be fired. You’re f–king history,” he seethes in the undated message. “This is bulls–t. How dare you f–king disrespect me? You gotta be f–king kidding me, you spoiled brat! F–k you!”

The alleged voicemail is used to support the claim that De Niro expected Robinson to be “on call” 24/7, meaning she worked longer hours than her male colleagues, clocking in 11-hour days with no meal breaks — but still got paid less, the suit claims. When she demanded to be paid equally, Robinson claims De Niro “invoked gender-laden stereotypes and implied that a male breadwinner deserved more pay than Ms. Robinson, a woman without children.”

In August, De Niro and his company sued Robinson for $3 million, accusing her of embezzlement and binge-watching “Friends” on the clock before abruptly quitting. But Robinson claims that suit was filed in retaliation after she made it clear she planned to sue for gender-discrimination and wage violations.

“De Niro was enraged at the prospect of Ms. Robinson bringing a lawsuit challenging his behavior,” Robinson’s complaint says. “So he retaliated and struck first.”

Robinson says De Niro’s suit, which also alleges she blew through the star’s frequent-flyer miles for personal trips, was intended to tarnish her reputation and undermine her claims. “Canal falsely accused Ms. Robinson of doing things that she had never done and repeatedly claimed that Ms. Robinson had engaged in improper transactions when, in fact, De Niro himself had approved those transactions,” Robinson’s complaint states.

Robinson said she had long contemplated quitting — but De Niro would use his influence over her as one of Hollywood’s leading actors, telling her he’d give her a “bad recommendation” if she split, court papers say.

Now, Robinson is unemployed and her career has been “destroyed,” the suit claims. 

“What De Niro did to me was wrong,” Robinson said in an e-mail. “The bullying, the inappropriate comments and the demeaning treatment grew so bad that the workplace became intolerable.”

De Niro’s bad behavior has been on display before. 

Earlier this year, he snapped at the media and called them “scumbags” at a hearing in his divorce battle with estranged wife Grace Hightower. He also was caught blowing his lid at his personal driver at another court hearing.

Last month on CNN, he took aim at anyone who dared criticize him for zinging President Trump, saying, “F–k ’em.”

Robinson’s lawsuit claims De Niro allowed Hightower and his unidentified paramour to “target Ms. Robinson based on her gender and create a hostile work environment for her, including disparaging her and assigning her demeaning job duties based on her gender.”

A lawyer for Hightower said she had no comment.

In a statement, De Niro’s attorney, Tom Harvey, called the allegations “beyond absurd.”

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry is a writer at The People's Voice. He covers politics, business and entertainment. Speaking truth to power since he learned to talk, Baxter has travelled in over 80 countries and won arguments in every single one. Live without fear.
Email: baxter@thepeoplesvoice.tv
Baxter Dmitry

6 Comments

  1. We all have to card to make sure our tails are over 18 years old (to avoid ruining our lives) and fully consent because we have consciences, but these people can torment and rape minors at will?

  2. would I risk my life to see joker?-no way…trying to make a riot by yelling fire is holywoods marketing plan-I`ll pass/away before I see a Hollywood rewrite of a 14th/AD rewritten Aztec jucker spiel jester.One act ponys all washed up

  3. why doesn’t Hollywood just pass out machine guns at the box office? it is a win/win for them sell war weapons booze and bullets and maybe the movie will joke worth a dine

  4. And than report the new crosses at the grave yards on the news.The box office is DOA no one wants to die to see a cookie cutter make mooka for duka

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.