Robert De Niro treated his assistant like an “office wife” and got her to scratch his back, a court has heard.
The Academy Award-winning actor described the claims as “nonsense” during a testy appearance on the stand.
De Niro, 80, and his production company, have been sued by Graham Chase Robinson, who worked for the actor and the company between 2008 and 2019.
She is seeking $12 million (£9.8million) in damages, alleging gender discrimination, harassment and wage theft.
De Niro, 80, and his Canal Productions have countersued for $6 million, accusing Ms Robinson of spending company money on her own travel and food, and watching Netflix at work.
Both sides’ claims are being heard in a civil trial that is expected to last for two weeks.
Ms Robinson has alleged that De Niro underpaid her, made “vulgar”, sexist comments and assigned her “stereotypically female” tasks while she worked as an executive assistant.
The two-time Oscar winner took the stand in a New York court on Monday, and became irate during hours of testimony, declaring: “This is all nonsense.”
Asked about claims that he required Ms Robinson to be constantly available to do “anything and everything”, De Niro replied: “I asked her to do anything within reason. Within the confines of her job.”
“It’s not like I’m telling her to go out and scrape floors, mop floors so this is all nonsense,” he told the court.
Reporters in the courtroom described the actor as “grumpy” and “snapping” in his responses to lawyers’ questions.
Judge Lewis J Liman admonished De Niro and Ms Robinson’s lawyer over their angry exchanges, reminding them not to raise their voices, according to reports.
De Niro said his assistant’s tasks involved organising travel and buying gifts for his family.
Ms Robinson has claimed he also asked her to do things like mending clothing, doing laundry and scratching his back.
In opening arguments, a lawyer for Ms Robinson said that when she suggested De Niro use a back scratcher, he replied: “I like the way you do it.”
‘Demeaning, controlling, abusive’
Richard Schoenstein, a lawyer for De Niro, said: “This is not the story of a helpless woman subject to discrimination by her employer.”
Mr Schoenstein described Ms Robinson as “condescending, demeaning, controlling, abusive” and said “she always played the victim”.
The questioning on Monday focused on the hours Ms Robinson was required to keep.
De Niro said he would only call Ms Robinson at “civilised” hours, but was asked about an occasion when he called her at 4am to help him get to hospital after an accident.
“That was one time when I cracked my back falling down the stairs,” the Hollywood star retorted, according to reporters in the court.
Ms Robinson’s lawyers also alleged that De Niro’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, was jealous that the actor relied on her so much, claiming it led to her being stripped of duties in retaliation.
DeNiro returned to the witness stand on Tuesday, when jurors were shown texts and emails between the actor and Ms Chen demonstrating his fury over his former assistant’s lawsuit.
Expletive-filled exchange
According to the Daily Mail, jurors were shown a message De Niro sent to Ms Chen in July 2019, stating: “Can you believe Chase. Who the f--- does she think she is?”
Ms Chen replied: “She thought she was your wife. I saw it from the beginning. I told you.”
Ms Chen also emailed De Niro at 2am on March 28, 2019 warning her partner: “If you keep her you and I will have problems.”
She went on to describe Ms Robinson as “f---ing rude” and a ‘dismissive b----”, according to the exchange shown to the jury.
She added: “You don’t want to see it because you’re too close to her.”
De Niro replied that he agreed, saying Ms Robinson’s behaviour was “unacceptable”.
Ms Chen went on to state: “I’m not going to be happy until you tell me she’s looking for a replacement.”
The actor was asked by Ms Robinson’s lawyer whether Ms Chen was delivering an “ultimatum”.
He said: “I don’t”, adding that he viewed it as a request for Ms Robinson to stop working at the home he shared with his Ms Chen
He added: “No one tells me what to do in my office. Period.”
Salary increased by $100,000
De Niro said Ms Robinson’s salary was increased by $100,000 after the pair “negotiated” an agreement in 2018.
At the time, the actor was in the process of divorcing Grace Hightower, whom he had been with for more than 20 years.
He told the court: “I knew what she [Ms Robinson] was doing. She picked a time to say she was going to leave. It was not like I said you have to do this. We talked it over.
“I needed her. It wasn’t a carrot. It wasn’t being tough one minute and nice the next. A lot was going on and I needed her to help me.”
By the time she left De Niro’s employment in 2019, Ms Robinson was working as vice president of production and finance at Canal and being paid an annual salary of $300,000.
De Niro, known for roles in films including Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, also stars in Martin Scorsese’s latest picture Killers of the Flower Moon.
The actor and Canal Productions have accused Ms Robinson of improperly spending tens of thousands of dollars of company money on food, travel and other personal services and using the streaming platform Netflix at work.
De Niro has denied all of Ms Robinson’s allegations.
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