Viewers of Martin Scorsese’s latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, saw Robert De Niro’s latest villainous turn. Readers of the recent case against De Niro from his ex-assistant will now see a New York jury award his ex-assistant $1.26 million after issuing a verdict that had taken the jurors the length of Killers of the Flower Moon‘s runtime after a single day of deliberations to reach. According to The Hollywood Reporter, De Niro was also found not personally liable in this case. They report, “Additionally, the jury rejected the actor’s counterclaim that she stole 5 million frequent flyer miles from the company.”
The trial would center around the claim that De Niro’s ex-assistant, Graham Chase Robinson, claimed the Raging Bull star had assigned her to perform unconventionally domestic tasks even though her position was a lofty title at his company, Canal Productions. The tasks included more personal duties such as washing his bedsheets, buttoning his shirt and scratching his back. Robinson also claims that she had been subjected to vulgar comments while working for De Niro. After eleven years with the company, Robinson left the company after a fallout.
De Niro initiated the conflict after Robinson refused to sign a release after her departure from the company. He would sue her for “stealing millions of frequent-flyer miles and other property from Canal Productions.” That’s when Robinson hit De Niro’s company with a countersuit citing “gender discrimination and retaliation.” De Niro testified on October 31 and called her case “nonsense” as well as saying, “It’s absurd.” Then, the Taxi Driver actor exclaimed, “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”
The trial had included testimony from De Niro’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen. Chen and Robinson would work together on decorating De Niro’s townhouse. Chen would testify that when she first met Robinson, she had the impression that “[t]here is something wrong with her, very seriously wrong with her.” Robinson would allegedly not look her in the face and make various changes to the property like moving furniture and pruning trees without their permission. Chen stated, “It all seemed very jealous and territorial”