During his testimony in a New York court on Tuesday, Robert De Niro vehemently denied accusations of mistreatment towards his former executive assistant and vice-president. He even shouted “Shame on you!” to the employee, who is now seeking significant compensation.
Graham Chase Robinson, along with her legal team, observed as Robert De Niro’s frustration grew while his lawyer, Andrew Macurdy, hurled accusations at him regarding his treatment of Robinson while she worked for him from 2008 until her departure in 2019.
41-year-old Robinson is seeking $12 million in compensation for the emotional distress and damage to her reputation. She is currently unemployed and struggling to overcome the negative impact her job had on her. Despite earning a yearly salary of $300,000, she quit due to difficulties with De Niro’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, and the impact it had on the actor.
The jury is currently reviewing evidence related to a lawsuit from 2019 in which De Niro accused Robinson of stealing items from him. These items include five million points that were earned on a company credit card and could be used for airline flights, as well as excessive TV watching during working hours. De Niro is seeking the repayment of three years’ worth of Robinson’s salary.
Macurdy inquired with De Niro on Tuesday if it was accurate that he occasionally urinated while speaking with Robinson over the phone.
“Enough with this ridiculousness. Did you really bring us all here for this?” De Niro expressed.
According to Robinson’s legal representative, De Niro allegedly made two phone calls to her while she was attending a relative’s funeral. However, De Niro refuted this claim, stating that he was not aware of her whereabouts during the time of the funeral.
De Niro refuted accusations of being verbally aggressive towards Robinson and vehemently denied her claim that he had expressed a preference for her to manually scratch his back instead of using a back-scratching tool. The actor admitted that it may have occurred a few times, but maintains that it was never done with disrespect or vulgarity.
In the end, he glared at Robinson with anger and exclaimed, “You should be ashamed, Chase Robinson!”
Swiftly, he uttered a remorseful statement in a hushed tone, while stealing a glance at judge Lewis J Liman.
Since the start of the hearing on Monday, De Niro has repeatedly referred to the trial as “ridiculous”. When questioned by the plaintiff’s lawyer on Tuesday, he stated, “The entire case is absurd. But I am present!”
80-year-old De Niro has been a successful actor in the movie industry for over 60 years, earning two Academy Awards. He is known for his iconic performances in movies such as The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull. His newest project is Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
The experiment is predicted to continue until November 10th.
The report was contributed by the Associated Press.
Source: theguardian.com
