Photo: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Robert De Niro and his former assistant Graham Chase Robinson are facing a duel over misconduct charges in Manhattan federal court. Robinson claims the Taxi Driver actor subjected her to “years of gender discrimination and harassment,” while his countersuit alleges financial misconduct, including misuse of the company’s frequent flyer miles. These dueling allegations of gender and financial misconduct are expected to be heard by a jury over a two-week period.
This court case could turn out to be quite unspectacular. De Niro’s girlfriend Tiffany Chen gave birth to her baby in April 2023, and Robinson has alleged that Chen played a role in her alleged unfair treatment. Text messages between De Niro and Chen could be introduced in the trial. A copy of an exchange between them suggests that Chen told De Niro that Robinson was romantically interested in him. Here’s a rundown of their legal battle so far, including De Niro’s first day on the witness stand.
Robinson began working as an executive assistant to De Niro at his company Canal Productions in 2008, hoping to launch a distinguished career in the entertainment industry. Although Robinson was promoted to production manager in 2011 and vice president of production and finance in 2017, she claims her promotion came against a backdrop of alleged “abusive” behavior. The details of her allegations are very detailed.
“He sexually assaulted her, calling her a ‘slut’ and a ‘brat.'” When he spoke to Ms. Robinson, he called his business partner a “cunt” and referred to his assistants as “the girls,” Robinson’s lawsuit, dated October 2019. “De Niro went on tirades against Ms. Robinson – often while drunk – in which he denigrated, insulted, bullied and hurled profanities at her.”
The lawsuit also alleges that De Niro “joked with Ms. Robinson about his Viagra prescription.” He allegedly told Robinson to “imagine him in the toilet” and suggested that a male colleague could be her sperm donor. Robinson also said in court papers that De Niro insisted on treating her like his “office wife” and giving her traditionally feminine office tasks despite her title. There were also allegations of inappropriate behavior and touching.
“He urinated during phone calls with her and met with her in only his pajamas or bathrobe,” the lawsuit says. “De Niro engaged in gratuitous physical contact with Ms. Robinson because of her gender. De Niro instructed Ms. Robinson to, among other things, scratch his back, button his shirts, adjust his collars, tie his ties and nudge him awake when he was in bed. De Niro also stood idly while his friend slapped Ms. Robinson on the bottom.” Robinson claims she was underpaid and denied legally required overtime pay.
De Niro, however, insists that Robinson is the wrongful party. His allegations of misconduct against Robinson began in August 2019, when his company sued her for financial misconduct. His company’s lawsuit alleged that Robinson made “thousands of dollars in personal expenses” using his company’s American Express credit cards, converted “millions” of Canal’s frequent flyer miles for her own use, and improperly used the manufacturing company as a personal piggy bank treated for “luxury items”. That lawsuit also alleged that she “loitered during work hours and watched TV shows on Netflix for staggering hours.”
Canal’s lawsuit said Robinson’s role required De Niro to “place full faith and confidence in her that she would carry out her duties and responsibilities in the best interests of Canal, while carefully monitoring finances and other employees,” in that lawsuit It was claimed that she was “paid generously,” earning $175,000 in 2017 and $300,000 in 2019. The lawsuit filed by De Niro’s company alleged that beginning in early 2019, “suspicions arose regarding Robinson’s honesty, integrity, work ethic and motivation.” She resigned in 2019, saying concerns about “withholding information, committing acts of corporate sabotage, stealing property and not being diligent, professional or helpful” were ridiculous.
In Robinson’s lawsuit, she claims that De Niro’s company’s August 2019 lawsuit was “retaliatory” and a preemptive strike to prevent her from filing discrimination claims. Robinson says she asked De Niro in July 2019 for a recommendation for her business school application. De Niro, she claims, had lawyers present her with a “release of legal rights” to sign, an agreement that would prevent her from taking action against him. Robinson claims to have told De Niro’s lawyers that she needed a lawyer. She claims that De Niro’s lawyer and fixer “went on the offensive” and accused her of misconduct in a letter dated July 11, 2019.
On July 31, 2019, Robinson’s lawyer informed De Niro’s team of possible legal claims against him, including sexual discrimination and stereotyping and retaliation.
“She made it clear that she was prepared to pursue these claims in court,” court documents state. “MS. Robinson emphasized through her attorneys that the defendant’s allegations of misconduct were without merit and should dissuade her from pursuing her claims.”
About two weeks after Robinson made it clear she was prepared to sue, De Niro “further retaliated against Ms. Robinson for engaging in protected activities” by filing a $6 million lawsuit against her. “The retaliation lawsuit was intended to prevent Ms. Robinson from pursuing her claims and destroy her reputation. “None of the allegations made by Canal against Ms. Robinson were made to her prior to her resignation,” she claims.
De Niro has denied allegations of misconduct. In a court filing in which De Niro lays out all of his denials, there are also a number of counterclaims against Robinson. To support his argument that Robinson’s salary was not affected by her gender, he claimed: “In the two (2) years prior to her resignation, Ms. Robinson was the highest paid Canal employee, with the exception of Mr. De Niro’s personal trainer. “ ” This counterclaim filed by Canal is similar to the original lawsuit filed in 2019 in that the latter case was dismissed. Canal is now pursuing these allegations against Robinson in this federal counterclaim.
One of Robinson’s allegations is that De Niro’s partner, Tiffany Chen, mistreated her and his ex-wife, Grace Hightower. ““De Niro allowed his wife and then his mistress to target Ms. Robinson based on her gender and created a hostile work environment for her by demeaning her and assigning her demeaning work duties based on her gender,” Robinson alleges in his lawsuit against Chen. A July 2019 text exchange in which De Niro and Chen discuss Robinson’s mention of legal action against him is certainly not pretty. “Who the hell does she think she is?!?!” De Niro said this in a text, apparently repeating what he had told a confidant about the situation.
Chen allegedly replied, “She thought she was your wife. I saw it from the beginning. I told you.” “The guts, the nerve, the chutzpah, the sense of entitlement, how dare she!” De Niro reportedly said this in a text. Chen expressed confidence that De Niro’s lawyers would take care of the matter would, and said he “will get her.”
The actor took the stand Monday and denied asking Robinson to do things beyond her duties as an assistant and administrator. When her attorney, Andrew Macurdy, asked, “She also had to do anything that had to do with your personal life, right?” DeNiro responded, “No, that sounds like it was something it’s not.” That implication I do not like it. She – anything and everything within the scope of her job working for me as my assistant.” Macurdy continued to press De Niro on the scope of Robinson’s job duties to support the claim that she was tasked with tasks outside of acceptable work boundaries.
“So, Mr. De Niro, we have discussed the duties you assigned to Ms. Robinson as part of her employment. “One of them was that she helped you take care of your pets?” Macurdy said. “With my pets?” De Niro asked. “Right,” Macurdy replied. “Yes. Sometimes, yes…Tiffany had pets. We had a lot of dogs. She might have asked them for help in that area, yes.” De Niro confirmed that Robinson was also responsible for finding plants for De Niro’s houses and even corresponded with his divorce lawyers.
Questions about Chen followed. “When Tiffany Chen, your current girlfriend, came on stage, you told Ms. Robinson to help Tiffany Chen with whatever Ms. Chen needed. Yes or no?” the lawyer asked. “Yes, that was the implication, if you will. “She introduced her and she was supposed to help us move forward,” De Niro replied.
De Niro’s testimony continues on Tuesday, October 31.
This story has been updated with additional information and quotes.