Robert De Niro’s company ordered to pay $1.2m in gender discrimination lawsuit but star not personally liable
Robert De Niro’s company has been ordered to pay more than $1.2m (£982,000) to his former personal assistant after it was found to have engaged in gender discrimination and retaliation – but a jury found the star was not personally liable for the abuse.
A judge ordered De Niro’s company, Canal Productions, to make two payments of $632,143 to his long-time personal assistant Graham Chase Robinson.
De Niro, 80, who spent three days at the two-week trial, including two in the witness box, has been ensnared in duelling lawsuits with Ms Robinson since she quit in April 2019.
De Niro arrives at court. Pic: AP
Ms Robinson, 41, said De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen teamed up against her to turn a job she once loved into a nightmare.
De Niro and Ms Chen each said during evidence that Ms Robinson became the problem when her aspirations to move beyond Canal Productions led her to make escalating demands to remain in the job.
In two days in the witness box the actor told jurors he boosted Ms Robinson’s salary from less than $100,000 (£82,000) annually to $300,000 (£245,000) and elevated her title to vice president of production and finance at her request – despite her responsibilities remaining largely the same.
De Niro said when she quit Ms Robinson stole about $85,000 (£70,000) in airline miles from him, betrayed his trust and violated his unwritten rules to use common sense and always do the right thing.
At times De Niro acknowledged from the witness box many of the claims Ms Robinson made to support her $12m (£10m) gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit.
He agreed he had asked her to scratch his back on at least two occasions, dismissing a question about it with: “Ok, twice? You got me!”
He admitted he had berated her, though he disputed ever aiming a profanity her way, saying: “I was never abusive, ever.”
He also denied ever yelling at her, saying every little thing she was trying to catch him with was nonsense and that, at most, he had raised his voice in her presence but never with disrespect.
Then, he looked at her sitting between her lawyers in the courtroom and shouted: “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”
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‘Emotional and mental breakdown’
Ms Robinson said she quit her job during an “emotional and mental breakdown” that left her overwhelmed and feeling like she had “hit rock bottom”.
She said she has since suffered from anxiety and depression and has not worked in four years despite applying for 638 jobs.
“I don’t have a social life,” she said. “I’m so humiliated and embarrassed and feel so judged. I feel so damaged in a way. … I lost my life. Lost my career. Lost my financial independence. I lost everything.”
‘A civil rights trial’
De Niro’s lawyers sued Ms Robinson for breach of loyalty and fiduciary duty even before her lawsuit was filed against him in 2019.
They sought $6m (£5m) in damages, including a return of the five million airline miles.
In a closing argument on Wednesday, De Niro’s lawyer Richard Schoenstein said the miles that were taken were worth about $85,000. He said jurors could order Ms Robinson to return some of her salary, but, he added: “We’re not looking for you to punish her.”
In his closing, Ms Robinson’s lawyer Brent Hannafan called the two weeks of court proceedings a civil rights trial and urged jurors to return a verdict “not just for Ms Robinson, but for all civil rights litigants”.
De Niro has won two Oscars and is currently starring in the Martin Scorsese film Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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