Robert De Niro will no longer be honored at the National Association of Broadcasters award ceremony following his anti-Trump rant outside the former president’s criminal trial.
The Oscar-winning actor, 80, was set to be handed the group’s Leadership Foundation’s Service to America Award next week.
But the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has rescinded the award after De Niro hit out at Donald Trump in a press conference in support of Joe Biden outside Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.
‘I owe this city a lot. And that’s why it’s so weird that Donald Trump is just across the street because he doesn’t belong in my city,’ he told reporters.
The NAB which describes itself as ‘proudly bipartisan’ said De Niro would no longer be attending their event.
‘This event is proudly bipartisan, uniting those from across the political spectrum to celebrate the impactful work of local broadcasters and our partners,’ an NAB spokesman told The Hill.
‘While we strongly support the right of every American to exercise free speech and participate in civic engagement, it is clear that Mr. De Niro’s recent high-profile activities will create a distraction from the philanthropic work that we were hoping to recognize.
‘To maintain the focus on service of the award winners, Mr. De Niro will no longer be attending the event.’
It comes days after De Niro said he joined the Biden campaign because it was the only way to ‘preserve our freedoms’.
‘I don’t mean to scare you. No, wait, maybe I do mean to scare you,’ he told reporters.
‘If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted.’
The actor cast himself as the true New Yorker and mocked Trump’s history of sometimes-unsuccessful business ventures and self-promotion, saying Trump was looking to ‘destroy’ the city.
‘We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another crappy real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot,’ De Niro said.
‘I love this city. I don’t want to destroy it. Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city but the country, and, eventually, he could destroy the world.’
He said if Trump gets reelected he will never relinquish power.
‘I can tell you right now. He will never leave. He will never leave. You know that. He will never leave,’ De Niro said.
Last week, the Biden campaign released a new ad that was narrated by De Niro sharply criticizing Trump’s presidency and plans if he’s reelected.
Trump labeled De Niro a ‘wacko’ following his rant outside Manhattan Criminal Court and posted a deepfake video that manipulates the actor’s own voice to call himself ‘washed up.’
The former president posted the video from his Truth Social account where the actor calls himself a ‘scared little man’ and a ‘sicko’ with ‘lots of skeletons in my closet.’
It also insults his stature, calls Trump a ‘real man,’ and includes crude references to gay sex.
‘I don’t know why they made this podium so high. I told them I’m coming straight from the bathhouse and didn’t have my platform shoes with me,’ the actor says in a manipulated voice that resembles his own in the video blasted out by Trump to his followers.
‘I’m speaking to you today because I’m a scared little man, a washed up actor with lots of skeletons in my closet. People like me need Joe Biden and power not because he’s any good, but because he enjoys the same sick perversions,’ it says.
The manipulated ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Godfather Part II’ actor then says he only gets to ‘pretend to be tough and powerful on a movie set.’
‘If Donald Trump was in front of me right now I’d punch myself right in the face, get down on my hands and knees …’ the deepfake version of De Niro says, with a crude reference in the video posted by the former president.
DailyMail.com has contacted the NAB for comment.