Unveiling the Doubts: Robert De Niro's Girlfriend Tiffany Chen on His Previous Assistant

Robert De Niro and Tiffany Chen. Gary Gershoff/WireImage

Robert De Niro's former assistant, Graham Chase Robinson, faced opposition from De Niro's girlfriend, Tiffany Chen.

In a New York City court on October 30, De Niro, aged 80, provided testimony against Robinson, who had accused him of being an abusive boss during her tenure as his assistant from 2008 to 2019. According to the Associated Press, De Niro stated that Chen harbored suspicions towards Robinson. It was furthermore implied that Robinson assumed a role akin to De Niro's wife, engaging in a perceived "imaginary intimacy" with him.

De Niro mentioned that his girlfriend had a feeling about something, and it turns out she might have been correct. They met on the set of The Intern in 2015 and started dating in 2021. In April, they had their first child together, a daughter named Gia.

Robinson's lawyer, Andrew Macurdy, denied any speculation of romance between Robinson and De Niro, clarifying that there was never any romantic involvement between them. However, Macurdy did mention that Chen grew jealous of Robinson's closer relationship with De Niro, which included tasks like decorating his Christmas tree, being his emergency contact, writing greeting cards for his children, and even driving him to the hospital when he injured his back in 2017.

Robinson filed a lawsuit against De Niro, alleging that he shouted at her, used derogatory language, and made sexist comments. Since resigning from her position in 2019, Robinson has been unable to secure employment and lives in fear, reluctant to venture out of her home. She is seeking $12 million in compensation for emotional distress and damage to her reputation.

During the trial on Monday, De Niro was reportedly visibly irritated and raised his voice twice while giving his testimony, as stated by the AP. When questioned about Robinson's job performance, he replied, "Not after the current ordeal I am facing."

Robert De Niro. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

The star of "The Killers of the Flower Moon" exclaimed once again during a discussion about appointing Robinson to oversee some preparations for a five-bedroom townhouse in NYC that he had purchased for himself and Chen. He clarified, "I'm not asking her to do menial tasks like scraping floors and mopping." He went on to dismiss the allegations as nonsensical.

De Niro's attorney, Richard Schoenstein, portrayed him as a considerate, fair, and generous boss. Schoenstein assured the jurors that employees from De Niro's company, Canal Productions, would testify to this effect. He argued that Robinson consistently portrayed herself as a victim while exhibiting condescending, demeaning, controlling, and abusive behavior.

In her October 2019 lawsuit, obtained by NBC News, Robinson claimed that she performed various tasks for De Niro, such as buttoning his shirts, scratching his back, and cleaning his apartment. She described her former boss as someone who clings to outdated beliefs, refusing to acknowledge gender equality and disregarding the illegality of workplace gender discrimination.

Additionally, Robinson accused Canal Productions of underpaying her based on her gender. In response, Canal Productions filed a countersuit, alleging that Robinson misused company funds by spending thousands of dollars, watching Netflix excessively during work hours, and transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of airline miles to her personal account. These allegations were reported by The New York Times.

Following the initial news of the lawsuit, lawyer Tom Harvey called Robinson’s allegations against De Niro “beyond absurd” in a statement to We.