If all publicity is good publicity, then Martin Scorsese must be very happy with Robert De Niro right about now.
The 76-year-old actor is starring in the gangster flick, “The Irishman.”
Most stars garner press for their projects with goofy interviews on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
But Bobby’s grabbing headlines with his several different legal battles, all of which have one common denominator: his volcanic temper.
This CNBC headline sums up his most recent problem:
“‘The Irishman’ star Robert De Niro accused of ‘abusive and sexist’ comments in $12 million gender discrimination lawsuit by former assistant”
Fear not Adam Schiff, you don’t need to “read between the lines” of this phone call.
The raging-bull message is reminiscent of Alec Baldwin’s infamous phone call tirade from 2007.
Baldwin referred to his daughter Ireland as a, “rude, thoughtless little pig.”
Of course, De Niro’s verbal attack was directed at an employee while Baldwin’s was aimed at his child. I’ll let you decide which is worse.
But this is just the latest in a long history of obnoxious behavior from the star of “Goodfellas” and “Taxi Driver.”
Days before this voicemail was released, De Niro had gone on CNN’s inaptly named “Reliable Sources” with Brian Stelter.
When the host broached the topic of Fox News, De Niro began dropping multiple expletives on the morning cable show. Even the camera men were audibly aghast at the actor’s lack of civility.
But wait … there’s more!
De Niro is also ensconced in a bitter divorce battle with his soon-to-be ex-wife Grace Hightower.
And he is handling that ordeal with as much grace as you’d expect.
In February, after attending a divorce hearing, De Niro unleashed on his driver for not picking him up where he had asked outside the courthouse.
According to the New York Daily News he shouted, “Where the (expletive) are you? I don’t care if the construction guys told you to move…On Worth Street. Then you’d see all the photographers here. You’re not where you dropped us off.”
Perhaps De Niro’s former assistant had suggested he try anger management and that’s what elicited the deranged voicemail.
But the rich former-box-office-gold actor has no time for therapy or self-reflection.
His schedule is jam-packed with something far more important: bashing President Trump!
De Niro has railed against the president in countless interviews, award show speeches and even college commencement addresses.
Sure, the Morehouse graduates got billionaire Robert F. Smith for their commencement speaker. And yeah, the guy did generously offer to pay off all their student loan debt.
But the graduating class from Brown University got the old dude from “Meet the Fockers 2” and he droned on about how much he hates the president. So that’s kind of the same thing.
Last June, De Niro took the stage at the Tony Awards and offered up this fresh, thought-provoking insight on politics:
“I’m gonna say one thing: #$%$ Trump.”
How artistic.
Recently he shared that he wants Trump to be impeached because, “He’s such a low life. … He taints everybody around him.”
So Trump is the low life, huh Bobby?
I think your assistant, you know the one you referred to as a “spoiled ******* brat”, might describe you in similarly unflattering terms.
If Tinsel Town gave out awards to all-star hypocrites, De Niro would be taking home gold statues just like the good old days.
Speaking of petulant, wealthy whiners who like to label the commander-in-chief as a racist, misogynistic dictator — let’s circle back to Alec Baldwin.
The extremely vocal anti-Trumper tweeted this out in April:
If I ran for President, would you vote for me?
I won’t ask you for any $.
And I promise I will win.
Beating Trump would be so easy.
So easy.
So easy.
Beating the incumbent president would be “so easy” for Alec Baldwin.
Coming from the man who lost it over a NYC parking dispute, that is pretty rich.
Imagine if Baldwin and De Niro teamed up on a ticket: Make America Yell Again.
