Don’t you dare watch Friends on Robert De Niro’s dime! Over the weekend, Variety reports, De Niro’s Canal Productions filed a $6 million lawsuit against an ex-employee for spending “astronomical amounts of time†watching Netflix during work hours, and racking up charges on the company card. The allegations included in the suit: pricey hotel stays and restaurant dinners, using millions of De Niro’s frequent flyer miles, and, the company says, watching 55 episodes of Friends over four days in January. The suit says the executive, Chase Robinson, left the company in April, over concerns of “corporate sabotage.â€
The tâsté! Over another four-day period in March, Variety reports, Robinson allegedly watched 20 episodes of Arrested Development and 10 episodes of Schitt’s Creek. “Watching shows on Netflix was not in any way part of or related to the duties and responsibilities of Robinson’s employment,†the suit alleges, “and, on information and belief, was done for her personal entertainment, amusement and pleasure at times when she was being paid to work.†Among Robinson’s restaurant charges: $12,696.65 to the Upper East Side Italian restaurant Paola’s, $8,923.20 at Dean & Deluca (RIP!) and Whole Foods, and $32,000 for Ubers and taxis.
Robinson resigned from being Canal Productions’ “vice president of production and finance†in April. According to the lawsuit, she drafted a recommendation letter for herself that De Niro declined to sign. Paola, table for one!