Robert De Niro and his former assistant Graham Chase Robinson are facing off in Manhattan federal court over dueling misconduct claims. Robinson claims that the Taxi Driver actor subjected her to “years of gender discrimination and harassment,†while his counterclaim alleges financial misconduct, including misuse of company frequent-flier miles. These competing allegations of gender-based and financial wrongdoing were argued before jurors over a two-week period.
The trial proceedings proved quite dishy. De Niro’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, gave birth to their baby in April 2023, and Robinson contended Chen had a role in her allegedly unjust treatment. Text messages between De Niro and Chen were introduced at trial. A copy of an exchange between them suggested Chen had told De Niro that Robinson was romantically interested in him. On November 9, a jury found the actor not personally liable for gender discrimination against Robinson. However, his production company, Canal, was found liable for damages totaling over $1.2 million. Below, a rundown of the legal dispute, including everything De Niro said on the stand.
What was Graham Robinson’s role at Robert De Niro’s company?
Robinson started working as De Niro’s executive assistant at his company, Canal Productions, in 2008 in hopes of having a prominent career in the entertainment industry. While Robinson was promoted to director of production in 2011 and vice-president of production and finance in 2017, she alleges her ascent came amid a backdrop of allegedly “abusive†behavior. The details of her allegations are very detailed.
“He attacked her in gender terms, calling her a ‘bitch’ and a ‘brat.’ In speaking to Ms. Robinson, he called his female business partner a ‘cunt’ and referred to his executive assistants as ‘the girls,’†Robinson’s October 2019 lawsuit alleges. “De Niro would unleash tirades against Ms. Robinson — often while he was intoxicated — in which he denigrated, berated, bullied, and hurled expletives at her.â€
The suit also alleges that De Niro “would joke with Ms. Robinson about his Viagra prescription.†He allegedly told Robinson “to imagine him on the toilet†and suggested a male co-worker could be her sperm donor. Robinson also said in court papers that De Niro insisted on treating her like his “office wife,†assigning her traditionally female clerical duties despite her title. There were also claims of inappropriate behavior and touching.
“He urinated during telephone calls with her and met with her wearing only his pajamas or a bathrobe,†the suit charges. “De Niro initiated gratuitous physical contact with Ms. Robinson based on her gender. Among other things, De Niro would direct Ms. Robinson to scratch his back, button his shirts, fix his collars, tie his ties, and prod him awake when he was in bed. De Niro also stood idly by while his friend slapped Ms. Robinson on her buttocks.†Robinson alleges that she was underpaid and denied legally required overtime pay.
What are De Niro’s allegations against Robinson?
De Niro, on the other hand, insists that Robinson is the wrongful party. His allegations of misconduct against Robinson started in August 2019, when his company sued her, alleging financial misconduct. His company’s suit claimed that Robinson ran up “thousands of dollars in personal expenses†on his company’s American Express credit cards, converted “millions†of Canal’s frequent-flier miles for her own use, and improperly treated the production venture as a personal piggy bank for “luxury items.†This suit also claimed that she “loafed during working hours, binge-watching astounding hours of TV shows on Netflix.â€
Canal’s suit said that Robinson’s role required De Niro “to place full faith, trust and confidence in her that she would carry out her duties and responsibilities in Canal’s best interests, mindfully overseeing the finances and other employees.†This suit claimed that she was “paid generously,†landing $175,000 in 2017 and $300,000 in 2019. De Niro’s company’s lawsuit alleged that starting in early 2019, “suspicions arose regarding Robinson’s honesty, integrity, work ethic and motivation.†She quit in 2019 and said worries about “withholding information, engaging in an act of corporate sabotage, stealing property and not being diligent, professional or helpful†were ridiculous.
How did Robinson respond to De Niro’s lawsuit?
In Robinson’s lawsuit, she claims that De Niro’s company’s August 2019 lawsuit was “retaliation†and a preemptive strike to prevent her from pursuing discrimination claims. Robinson says that she asked De Niro for a recommendation for her business school application in July 2019. De Niro, she claims, had lawyers present her with a “release of legal claims for her to sign,†the kind of agreement that would prevent her from taking action against him. Robinson claims to have told De Niro’s lawyers that she’d need an attorney. She alleges that De Niro’s lawyer-cum-fixer “went on the offensive†and accused her of misconduct in a July 11, 2019, letter.
On July 31, 2019, Robinson’s lawyer told De Niro’s team about possible legal claims against him, including sexual discrimination and stereotyping, as well as retaliation. “She made clear that she was willing to pursue these claims through litigation,†court papers state. “Ms. Robinson emphasized through counsel that Defendants’ accusations of wrongdoing were baseless and designed to inhibit her from pursuing her claims.â€
About two weeks after Robinson made it clear she’d be willing to sue, De Niro “further retaliated against Ms. Robinson for engaging in protected activity†by his company’s filing a $6 million suit against her. “The retaliatory lawsuit was designed to inhibit Ms. Robinson from pursuing her claims and to destroy her reputation. None of the allegations that Canal made against Ms. Robinson had been raised with her prior to her resignation,†she claims.
What is De Niro’s counterclaim all about?
De Niro has denied allegations of misconduct. In a court filing where De Niro sets out all of his denials, there is also a host of counterclaims against Robinson. To bolster his argument that Robinson’s pay wasn’t impacted by her gender, he claimed “for the two (2) years prior to her resignation, Ms. Robinson was the most highly compensated Canal employee, except for Mr. De Niro’s personal trainer.†This counterclaim, filed by Canal, reads similar to its original 2019 lawsuit because the latter case was discontinued. Canal is now pursuing those allegations against Robinson in this federal counterclaim.
What about De Niro’s texts with Chen?
One of Robinson’s allegations is that De Niro’s partner, Tiffany Chen, mistreated her, as well as his ex-wife, Grace Hightower. “De Niro permitted his wife and then his paramour to target Ms. Robinson based on her gender and created a hostile work environment for her, including disparaging her and assigning her demeaning job duties based on her gender,†Robinson’s lawsuit claims of Chen. A July 2019 text exchange, where De Niro and Chen discuss Robinson’s mention of legal action against him, sure isn’t pretty. “Who the fuck does she thing she is?!?!†De Niro said in one text, apparently reiterating what he said to a confidant about the situation.
Chen allegedly responded, “She thought she was your wife. I saw it from the beginning. I told you.†“The balls, the nerve, the chutzpah, the sense of entitlement, how dare her!†De Niro allegedly said in a text. Chen appeared confident that De Niro’s lawyer would take care of things, saying he “will get her.â€
What did De Niro say in court about Robinson’s job duties?
The actor took the stand on Monday and denied that he had asked Robinson to do things outside of her duties as an assistant and administrator. When her attorney, Andrew Macurdy, asked, “She also had to do anything and everything related to your personal life, correct?†DeNiro shot back, “No, that makes it sound like it’s something that it’s not. I don’t like that implication. She — anything and everything within the confines of her job working for me as my assistant.†Macurdy kept pressing De Niro on the extent of Robinson’s job duties to bolster the claim that she had been asked to do tasks outside of acceptable work boundaries.
“So, Mr. De Niro, we were talking about the tasks that you had Ms. Robinson perform in the course of her employment. One was that you had her assist with your pets?†Macurdy said. “With my pets?†De Niro asked. “Correct,†Macurdy responded. “Yes. Sometimes, yeah … Tiffany had pets. We had a lot of dogs. She might have asked her to help in that area, yeah.†De Niro confirmed that Robinson was also in charge of finding plants for De Niro’s homes and even corresponded with his divorce attorneys.
Questions regarding Chen followed. “When Tiffany Chen, your current girlfriend, came into the picture, you told Ms. Robinson to assist Tiffany Chen with whatever Ms. Chen needed. Yes or no?†the attorney asked. “Yes, that was the implication, if you will. Introduced them and she should help us move forward,†De Niro responded.
On Tuesday, De Niro’s second day on the stand, he admitted to asking Robinson to scratch his back on two occasions and tiptoed around the fact that he might have called her a “bitch†at one point during her employment. “At times, you had Ms. Robinson scratch your back?†Macurdy asked. De Niro didn’t want to answer the question, it seemed, saying, “Again, this is nonsense.†The judge told De Niro to “just answer the question.†He did: “I don’t — she didn’t scratch it. If she did, I said, ‘Could you scratch it because I’m over here, one thing, I have an itch.’ Once. It is so ridiculous. It is every little thing she is trying to get on me.†Macurdy pressed De Niro on whether the back-scratching was a single event. De Niro wasn’t happy with this line of questioning, saying, “Okay. Okay, you got me. I don’t even know what you are talking about. I’m sorry, this is nonsense.†After Macurdy pressed on, De Niro said that if he had asked her to scratch his back, “it never was with any disrespect or lewdness or any kind of weirdness that you are trying to imply.â€
De Niro was questioned about calling Robinson names. “You called Ms. Robinson a bitch to her face?†Macurdy asked. De Niro replied that he “could have said, ‘You’re acting like a — something’†but that he “was never abusive. Period.â€
Macurdy also asked whether De Niro had called Robinson twice during her grandmother’s 2015 funeral. “If I did, then I did,†he said. “And if I called her I would have — but you could pull up whatever the deposition is that I would have been sensitive to it being a funeral. But she might have said, ‘It’s okay, I can talk at this point,’ it’s a whatever, a wake. I don’t know. It is not like a funeral where they’re putting the body into the ground or something. You know, I don’t know what all this nonsense is, but fine.â€
What has Robinson said about De Niro’s behavior in court?
Robinson took the stand on November 2 to tell jurors about her time working for De Niro and described an unprofessional environment. She explained how the back-scratching — which she claims De Niro asked for several times — made her feel: “I had mentioned that there was a back scratcher he could use instead … He said he preferred the way that I scratched his back: ‘I like the way that you do it.’†Robinson added of the requests, “It’s creepy. It’s just disgusting.†Robinson also discussed De Niro’s ire. “He yelled at me two days ago,†she said, alluding to his snapping “Shame on you!†in the courtroom.
How did the trial end?
A jury found De Niro not liable for gender discrimination after an hourslong deliberation on November 9. De Niro’s production company, however, was found liable for gender discrimination and retaliation. A judge ordered Canal to pay more than $1.2 million to Robinson in two installments of $632,142. In De Niro’s countersuit over misuse of SkyMiles points, the jury found the former personal assistant not liable.
This story has been updated with additional information and quotes.