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Former Robert De Niro collaborator Graham Chase Robinson testified in court on Friday (November 3) and recalled several incidents in which the Oscar-winning actor made her physically uncomfortable.
Ms. Robinson said she protested De Niro’s request to scratch his back a few times, reminding him that he had a back scratcher. She claimed he replied to her: “I like the way you do it.”
Ms. Robinson said in the New York courtroom that she found De Niro’s requests “creepy” and “just disgusting.”
Her statement was part of her $12 million (£9.9 million) employment discrimination lawsuit, in which she accused the 80-year-old Goodfellas actor of gender discrimination, retaliation, “extreme emotional distress and defamation of reputation”.
De Niro is also countersuing Ms. Robinson for allegedly stealing cash, gift cards, electronic devices and five million airline miles from his company, Canal Productions, before quitting in 2019 after repeated clashes with his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen.
While on the witness stand Tuesday, De Niro said the requests for consideration may have occurred “twice,” adding, “They got me!” .
On Friday, Ms Robinson also claimed that De Niro had called her a “bitch”.
“It’s very demeaning and hurtful when you’re just trying to do your job,” Ms Robinson told the court.
Graham Chase Robinson (left) and Robert de Niro (right)
(David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
She claimed the actor told her her job title wasn’t as important as his public opinion of her. “Titles don’t matter, it’s what I say about you that matters,” she said De Niro told her.
During her testimony, she explained the various tasks she had to complete, including handling the rent for De Niro’s townhouse in New York City and picking up gifts for his children and family, among others. She further claimed that a male colleague whose job was equivalent to hers was paid more than she was.
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De Niro has denied Ms. Robinson’s claims and his lawyers said their duties in dealing with his personal and professional life remained the same when the plaintiff was promoted in 2017.
Ms. Robinson was hired by De Niro in 2008 as an executive assistant. Over the course of her 11-year tenure, she was promoted to production manager at his company Canal Productions in 2011 and vice president of production and finance in 2017 before quitting in 2019.
Asked what she had lost in the four years since leaving her position, Ms Robinson told the court: “I have lost my life, my career and my financial independence. I lost everything.”
On Thursday, De Niro’s friend Ms. Chen took the stand, calling Ms. Robinson “psychotic” and comparing her to the character from “Single White Female.”
The trial continues in federal court in Manhattan.