Robert De Niro refused to speak when asked about his explosion at the awards show, where he accused organizers of censoring an anti-Trump rant from his speech.
The 80-year-old actor was reserved when asked him about the outburst at the Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday night.
De Niro fumed as he claimed part of his speech had been deleted because it contained a series of remarks about the former president.
The Taxi Driver star then delivered the segment in its entirety and then criticized Apple, the awards organizer, for cutting the speech.
But on Tuesday, De Niro told tersely: “No, no, I don’t want to comment” when asked about the incident.
The reserved Robert De Niro was sensitive when asked if he had anything to say about his rant at the Gotham Independent Film Awards after he accused organizers of censoring his speech
The 80-year-old criticized Apple at the Gotham Awards for allegedly deleting part of his speech from the teleprompter because it included jibes at Donald Trump
De Niro has been vocal in his criticism of the former president and was seen at the awards ceremony the day after the incident holding a copy of the book “Tied of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party.”
De Niro was seen later on Tuesday returning to his townhouse with his book on Tuesday evening
Earlier in the day, the award-winning actor dodged questions as he got into a car waiting outside his home
The Hollywood actor was spotted leaving his New York apartment holding a copy of “Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party” by John Karl.
Wearing a black cap and face mask, De Niro repeatedly refused to talk about the incident, visibly upset. As he left his Upper East Side townhouse, he tried to cover his face with a bag.
He then ordered a reporter to open the door to his chauffeur-driven black Cadillac Escalade before getting in and slamming it behind him.
De Niro was outspoken in his criticism of the former president and intensified his criticism before the 2016 election.
Last month he sent a statement to be read in his absence at the Stop Trump Summit organized by The New Republic magazine.
He was on hand at the glitzy awards ceremony to give a speech in honor of his critically acclaimed Western crime epic Killers Of The Flower Moon, directed by his longtime friend and collaborator Martin Scorsese.
De Niro was there to accept the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute Award on behalf of the film and appeared at the event alongside his co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone.
But at some point, the veteran actor stumbled during the speech before explaining his confusion.
Out of his element: 80-year-old Robert De Niro slurred his lines and appeared confused after part of his anti-Trump speech was allegedly edited out without his knowledge at the 2023 Gotham Awards on Monday
“I just want to say one thing,” De Niro said. “The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, and I didn’t know about it.” And I want to read it before I start the speech
“The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, and I didn’t know about it. “And I want to read it,” he said.
“History is no longer a story.” Truth is not truth. Even facts are being replaced by alternative facts and pushed forward by conspiracy theories and ugliness,” he said as he addressed his earlier comments.
“In Florida, young students are taught that slaves were taught skills that they could use for their personal gain,” De Niro continued. “The entertainment industry is not immune to this festering disease.”
He also referenced a racist statement from a 1971 Playboy interview with John Wayne.
“Duke John Wayne famously said of the Native Americans, “I don’t think we did any wrong by taking this great land from them.” “There were a large number of people who needed new land, and the Indians selfishly tried to keep it to themselves.”
“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 maintaining the pace of his current campaign of retaliation. But despite all his lies, he cannot hide his soul,” De Niro continued.
“He attacks the weak, destroys nature’s gifts and shows disrespect, for example by using Pocahontas as a curse word.”
The Hollywood actor attended the event with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen and the couple arrived together
De Niro paid tribute to his new film Killers Of The Flower Moon (pictured) and accepted the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute Award on his behalf
Finally, he criticized the Gotham Awards and Apple, the film’s producer, for apparently censoring his comments.
Instead of closing with a typical thank you message, he said, “I don’t feel like thanking them at all for what they’ve done.”
“How dare they actually do that? But now I will accept the award.”
The speech earned him thunderous applause and some embarrassed laughter from the audience.
His appearance at the event comes just weeks after he was ordered to pay $1.2 million in damages to his former assistant as part of a gender discrimination lawsuit.
While the jury found that De Niro was not personally responsible for the abuse, it said that his company, Canal Productions, engaged in gender discrimination and retaliation against former assistant Graham Chase Robinson and made two payments totaling $632,142 she has to do.
De Niro has been embroiled in legal disputes with Robinson since her resignation in April 2019.
Both he and his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, took the stand during the week-long trial.
The couple were both in attendance at the awards ceremony last night and recently announced that they had welcomed a child together – De Niro’s seventh.