Robert De Niro
Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
“Killers of the Flower Moon” star Robert De Niro was confused as he took the stage at the Gotham Awards in New York City on Monday night.
The Oscar-winning actor was on hand to present the Historical Icon and Creator Tribute Award for Martin Scorsese’s Apple film, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone.
When De Niro began reading his prepared remarks introducing the award, he noticed that his comments were edited. A video was aired of legendary director and Osage boss Geoffrey Standing Bear talking about the film, and then De Niro insisted that he read the original speech he planned to give, which contained several specific political comments, including this about Donald Trump.
“History is no longer history. “Truth is not the same as truth, and even facts are replaced by alternative facts and fueled by conspiracy theories and ugliness,” De Niro said on stage. “In Florida, young students are taught that slaves developed skills that they could use for personal gain. The entertainment industry is not immune to this festering disease. Duke John Wayne famously said of the Native Americans, “I don’t think we did any wrong in taking this great land from them.” There were large numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians tried selfishly ‘To keep it to yourself.’”
He continued: “Lying has become another tool in the charlatan’s arsenal. The former president lied to us more than 30,000 times during his four years in office, and he is keeping pace with his current campaign of retaliation. Despite all his lies, he can’t hide his soul. “He attacks the weak, destroys nature’s gifts, and shows his disrespect by, for example, using Pocahontas as a slur,” referring to Trump’s popular nickname for Senator Elizabeth Warren.
The actor then told the audience that his speech would continue here He apparently blamed Killers Studio Apple for cutting part of his speech.
“I will say these things, but to Apple and thank them and all that, Gothams, blah, blah, blah, Apple,” De Niro said. “But I don’t feel like thanking them at all after what they’ve done. How dare they actually do that?”
has reached out to representatives from the Gotham Awards and Apple for comment.
This isn’t the first time De Niro has spoken out against Trump, comparing his time as president to “an abusive relationship.”
“You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t feel safe,” he said on Michael Moore’s Rumble podcast in 2019 about Trump’s time in office. “The president is such an idiot and doesn’t do anything that we can rely on or feel safe about, even with good intentions – he has no good intentions.” That’s your job as president: to give people a good and to give a positive feeling. Even if it is easier said than done, this is your responsibility as president. He’s having none of it, as we all know.”
De Niro also famously shouted “Fuck Trump” as he took the stage at the 2018 Tony Awards.
Past Lives won Best Feature Film at the 2023 Gotham Awards, while Anatomy of a Fall and Beef won two awards each.
Check out the full list of winners.