Robert De Niro Shouts At Former Assistant In Court: Reports

NEW YORK CITY, NY — Robert De Niro shouted "Shame on you!" as he testified in court Tuesday against his former executive assistant and vice president who sued the actor for alleged abusive behavior, according to multiple reports.

Graham Chase Robinson, 41, who appeared in court with her lawyers, worked for De Niro, 80, from 2008 through part of 2019 and is seeking $12 million after accusing the actor of causing her emotional trauma and damage to her reputation that has prevented her from getting jobs, NBC4 New York reported.

While De Niro was on the stand Tuesday, Robinson's lawyer Andrew Macurdy questioned him about her allegations including that he called her b*tch to her face, asked her to scratch his back with her hands rather than with a device, and sometimes urinated while speaking with her on the phone, according to the outlet.

"That's nonsense," De Niro apparently said, in response to that last allegation. "You got us all here for this?"

Though he admitted he might have used the word b*tch in conversation with Robinson, De Niro insisted he was " ever abusive, ever," NBC4 New York reported.

"Yeah, fine, I berated her," De Niro said of the time Robinson apparently didn't wake him up in time for a meeting, according to PEOPLE. He also admitted he might have called her "petulant," "snippy" and a "f***ing spoiled brat."

NBC4 New York reported that as his anger continued to grow during his testimony, De Niro looked at Robinson and shouted "Shame on you, Chase Robinson!"

After Robinson left in 2019, De Niro's company filed a lawsuit seeking years' worth of her 300,000 annual salary back after claiming she stole things including airline points while working as Vice President for Production and Finance at at Canal Productions, according to the outlet.

In its $6 million lawsuit, the company claims that Robinson binge-watched hundreds of hours of Netflix shows while working and charged personal meals and groceries to the company’s credit card, PEOPLE reported.

Robinson's $12 million countersuit argues that De Niro and his company violated the New York City Human Rights Law, claiming that De Niro made sexist and sexual comments at work, gave her "stereotypically female job duties that were inconsistent with her job title," and paid her less than male employee Dan Harvey, according to PEOPLE.

Vulture outlined in greater detail some of the comments apparently made by De Niro to Robinson, including that the actor "would joke with Ms. Robinson about his Viagra prescription" and suggested a male co-worker could be her sperm donor.

As the trial continues, more emails and text exchanges will be revealed between De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen, with whom he welcomed a daughter in May, PEOPLE reported.

Robinson cites repeated clashes with Chen and the effect Chen had on De Niro as a source of distress, according to NBC4 New York and PEOPLE.

Patch reached out to De Niro's lawyer for comment.

After first gaining fame for his role in "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973), De Niro's status continued to climb when he appeared in "Mean Streets" (1973), which was his first of many films with director Martin Scorsese.

He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "The Godfather Part II" (1974) and received Academy Award nominations for best actor in "Taxi Driver" (1976), "The Deer Hunter" (1978), and "Cape Fear" (1991). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "Raging Bull" (1980).

De Niro is still working as an actor, recently starring in Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.