Robert De Niro’s former assistant broke down in tears in court on Friday as she recalled the ‘creepy’ and ‘disgusting’ moment he ordered her to scratch his back.
Graham Chase Robinson, 41, is suing the actor, 80, for alleged gender discrimination while she worked at his company Canal Productions between 2008 and 2019.
During her testimony at Manhattan Federal Court on the fifth day of the high-profile trial, Robinson accused De Niro of making her feel ‘physically uncomfortable’ by asking her to scratch his back because he preferred ‘the way you do it’.
The actor previously admitted to asking Robinson to scratch his back ‘once or twice’, but said it was never done with ‘any disrespect’.
She also claimed he called her ‘b****’ two or three times during her employment and frequently berated her – which she described as ‘hurtful’ and ‘demeaning’.
Graham Chase Robinson broke down in court as she described how former boss Robert DeNiro asked her to scratch his back, branding the request as ‘creepy’
Robinson said she told De Niro he could use a back scratcher but he told her ‘I prefer the way you do it’ – which she said made her feel ‘uncomfortable’
De Niro, pictured in New York on Thursday night, admitted he may have asked her to scratch his back once or twice but ‘never was with disrespect or lewdness’
Robinson’s $12 million lawsuit was filed four years ago, shortly after De Niro sued her for misuse of the company’s accounts.
She claimed De Niro asked her to scratch his back around three times in the past three years.
‘I mentioned there was a back scratcher he could use instead,’ she told the court.
‘He said ‘I prefer the way you do it’.’
‘It was creepy, just disgusting,’ she added before breaking down in tears.
Robinson also claimed she was called a ‘b****’ by De Niro on more than one occasion while she worked for him.
She said the first incident occurred when a fire broke out at his New York City townhouse and she was listed as an emergency contact with the security company.
‘I tried to take my name off ADT as I didn’t live there and it wasn’t a liability or responsibility I wanted,’ Robinson told the court.
‘Bob [De Niro] was really angry and he started berating me and said I was complaining and that he did not want to hear it.
‘He hung up and called back, berating me more and said I was ‘acting like a little b****’ and hung up again.’
She recalled another incident in December 2017 in which Di Niro was allegedly furious because he could not find some Christmas presents in the office.
‘He was screaming about not being able to find some of the presents in the office,’ Robinson said.
‘He was cursing left and right. I was trying to sort it but he just said I was being a b****.
‘I was complaining about him berating me and said please don’t curse at me.’
She became emotional and said: ‘It was very difficult. It is very demeaning and hurtful to be called that when you are just trying to do your job.
‘It is extremely hurtful to hear that from your boss.’
Her remarks come after De Niro lost his temper as he testified in the trial on Tuesday. De Niro and his girlfriend were not at the trial on Friday.
In a startling moment while on the stand, the Oscar-winning actor confronted Robinson and said before a stunned courtroom: ‘Shame on you, Chase Robinson! God da**it! I’m sorry.’
The 41-year-old is suing De Niro, 80, for alleged gender discrimination while she worked at his company Canal Productions
The Taxi Driver actor allegedly called Robinson a ‘b****’ between two or three times during her employment for his company, Canal Productions, she said during her testimony
The former assistant, picture here leaving court earlier this week, filed her lawsuit shortly after De Niro sued her for misuse of company funds
Meanwhile, his girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 64, slammed the actor’s former assistant as ‘psychotic’ in fiery testimony on Thursday.
She took the stand to berate De Niro’s former staffer Graham Chase Robinson, who she claimed had an ‘imaginary intimacy’ with the Oscar winner.
Chen admitted she pressured De Niro to fire Robinson after their relationship soured over issues including catering on his private jet and renovations at their Manhattan townhouse.
Her testimony came after a number of hostile email and text exchanges between Chen, Robinson and De Niro were shown to the jury days before, including a 2am email from Chen to the actor saying: ‘If you keep her (Robinson) you and I will have problems’.
Robinson began working for De Niro in 2008 as his assistant, and eventually rose to the position of vice-president of Canal Productions. It has been reported that she received a salary of $300,000 when she resigned in April 2019.
Chen’s hostility to Robinson was on full show in her testimony, which saw her compare the former assistant to the lead character of 1992 hit ‘Single White Female’.
This included Chen agreeing with a description of Robinson as ‘obsessive, psychotic and dangerous.’
Chen also appeared upset at having her intimate personal text exchanges revealed to the court.
De Niro’s girlfriend Tiffany Chen (pictured) dismissed Robinson as ‘obsessive, psychotic and dangerous’ in a fiery testimony earlier this week, when jurors were shown a series of hostile messages between her, Robinson and De Niro
She had been questioned over whether she had forced an ultimatum on De Niro to fire Robinson in 2018, the year before she resigned, which also included texts saying: ‘I’m not going to be happy until you tell me she’s looking for a replacement. Keeping her around is just a slap in my face.’
Asked if she wrote the texts, she replied: ‘Yeah, I wrote it.’
The court heard their relationship deteriorated after De Niro and Chen moved into a new townhouse in 2018, the same year De Niro separated from his ex-wife Grace Hightower.
Robinson had a perceived lack of respect towards the couple’s plans, the court heard, which led to a 2019 text from Chen to De Niro reading: ‘Her possessive manner over the house makes me very uncomfortable.’
‘Her sense of entitlement stems from this imagined intimacy she has with you,’ the text added. ‘She thinks she’s your wife and decided to be the lady of the house.’
Chen’s disapproval of Robinson’s attitude at the time included another text in March 2019 saying she had ‘had it with Chase’s bulls***.’
Asked if she believed Robinson was in a relationship with De Niro, Chen said: ‘I think she knows she’s not but that’s what makes her angry because she’s striving to be.’
Chen told De Niro he had ‘allowed her [Robinson] to become disrespectful’ and advocated he fire the assistant, texts revealed
‘She definitely thinks she’s in charge of everyone,’ Chen added.
Robinson told the court her role at Canal involved dealing with personal matters for De Niro including items with his children and family, dealing with his kids’ schools and assisting him with medical care.
She added that part of her role was to help with family vacations and inspect hotels and resorts to make sure they were suitable.
She claimed that she was his emergency contact and went with him to the emergency at least twice.
Robinson said she went to the hospital with De Niro in Spring 2017 after he slipped down the stairs.
‘I called his doctor first and went to his apartment,’ she told the court. ‘I ordered an Uber and went to the hospital.
‘I helped fill out forms and stayed with him while the doctor did tests.’
De Niro was married to Grace Hightower at the time but she did not show up to the hospital to be with him, according to her.
De Niro’s former assistant Graham Chase Robinson pictured leaving federal court this week
She said there was a second incident that summer where she met him at the hospital where his wife later turned up.
Robinson claimed her boss boasted about the age difference with his then-new girlfriend Chen.
‘[De Niro] alluded to the age difference [with girlfriend Tiffany Chen] being 30 years and he boasted about that,’ she recalled.
She claimed he enlisted her help Chen adjust to living at his townhouse.
‘He said, “She’s not [ex-wife] Grace [Hightower] — she’ll need your help”.’
Robinson said she had an agreement with De Niro in which she could work from different locations because the job was so intense.
She told the court she had trouble sleeping and eating due to the ‘24/7, 365 day’ role.
‘I haven’t had one good night of sleep in god knows how long, she said.
‘I have had so much stress and anxiety that I don’t eat. I lost a lot of weight.’
Robinson, who worked for De Niro between 2008 and 2019, was paid $300,000 annually before she quit as his vice president of production and finance
Robinson was tasked for years with everything from decorating De Niro’s Christmas tree to taking him to the hospital when he fell down stairs
At one point she claimed she was forced to abandon a run on the Bridle Path in Central Park because De Niro wanted her to pick up a baseball glove so he could play with his son.
‘He wanted to play catch with his son. I stopped running around the Bridle Path in Central Park and raced to Modell’s … because he wanted it right away,’ she claimed.
She told the court De Niro was forgetful and said: ‘He would forget kids birthdays, what year his anniversary was, where he had to be or where he was going.’
Robinson alleged her boss had different standards for the males and females who worked for him.
‘Female employees were expected to be on call 24/7 for Bob. He didn’t expect male employees to be on call for him,’ she claimed, adding that theOscar-winner referred to his female assistants as ‘the girls’.
She said: ‘Male employees could not be available and Bob wouldn’t mind.’
But she admitted that De Niro was extremely generous and would splash out on lavish gifts for birthdays and Christmas.
Robinson said she was handed a Rolex watch for her 30th birthday.
‘He was very generous when it came to that stuff,’ she admitted before adding that De Niro would regularly gift hotel stays for up to 20 days.
She approached De Niro about a raise in December 2018 but said her request was initially dismissed.
De Niro departs federal court on October 30, 2023 in New York City
Robinson asked to receive the same salary as fellow employee Dan Harvey who is the actor’s personal trainer and has worked with him since 1986.
But she alleged De Niro told her: ‘Chase you don’t have kids. Dan has a family to support.’
‘It made me so sad. It frustrated me, it angered me … I was really hurt by that comment,’ she told the court. ‘I gave this job my life. I didn’t have kids because I worked.’
But after a short exchange they agreed she would see her salary jump from $200,000 to $300,000.
‘He [said he] would give me a bad recommendation,’ Robinson claimed.
‘He regularly boasted about his name on a resume is enough payment.’
Robinson’s resignation email was shown to the jury and she told De Niro that she had been ‘loyal, protective, honest and beyond hard-working.’
‘I poured my heart and soul into this job and as a result other parts of my life and opportunities were put on hold. You always came first,’ she wrote.
It has been over three years since she left Canal Productions and in her testimony, she said she has applied to 638 jobs since but has not landed a single interview.
She broke down and said she suffers from depression, anxiety and insomnia and has to take medication to even leave the apartment she shares with her mother.
‘I’ve lost my life. I‘ve lost my career. I’ve lost my financial independence. I’ve lost everything,’ Robinson, who now sees a therapist, said.
Robinson said De Niro’s preferred carrier was American Airlines because they had a true first-class section.
She added that she convinced him to take a Delta flight one on business class, which is all they had, but he ended up complaining about the lack of space.
‘He said the flat bed where you put your legs was not large enough for him and that it was not comfortable, she said.
De Niro’s defense attorney Richard Schoenstein cross-examined Robinson on the stand and asked her if she had ever used the ‘B-word’ towards other Canal employees.
She said she did not remember saying it directly to someone but admitted she used it on occasions to describe Chen.
‘And you used that word multiple times to describe Ms. Chen?’ Schoenstein asked Robinson.
‘I have used it multiple times to describe Tiffany,’ she replied.
A recording of Robinson in discussion with another Canal employee was played in court and she was heard calling De Niro’s girlfriend a ‘sociopathic b****’ and wanting to tell the actor ‘you have no pair of balls, get with it’.
Schoenstein asked her: ‘You thought you should be paid the same as someone who has been working with Mr De Niro since you were in pre-school?’
She recorded up to 40 hours of phone conversations with Canal employees before she resigned.
Attorney Schoenstein asked her: ‘In any of the recordings, did you say you were the victim of gender discrimination?’
She replied: ‘I haven’t listened back to the recordings since. Not that I am aware.’
‘You are suing Mr De Niro and Canal for millions of dollars and you haven’t bothered listening back to the recordings?,’ Schoenstein questioned.
‘I mean I lived these calls,’ she told the lawyer who replied: ‘So that’s a no.’
Robinson will return to the stand on Monday when she’ll be further cross-examined by Schoenstein.
In her lawsuit, Robinson alleged that De Niro demeaned her with menial tasks such as scratching his back, and claimed she was not paid as much as a male employee she felt had similar responsibilities.
De Niro testified on Tuesday that this was Robinson asking to be paid as much as his longtime trainer, which he refused because he had ‘traveled with me for 40 years, left his family to be with me for long periods of time.’
He said, ‘She’s jealous of him.’
Further texts from Chen appeared to note this disagreement, where she told the Oscar winner: ‘If you keep her you and I will eventually have problems because you have allowed her to become disrespectful to you and now she’s telling you what she will do and what her job is.’
Chen also texted Michael Kaplan, another Canal Productions employee who testified at the trial, claiming Robinson snuck into her bedroom and unplugged her electronics.
She said Robinson had a personality like ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide’, who would flip on a dime around De Niro and ‘confuse the situation.’
Robinson is seeking $12 million from De Niro in damages for severe emotional distress and reputational harm
Chen felt her behavior towards the couple was because she dreamed of being with the actor, adding: ‘I believed she lived her whole life as a fantasy.’
‘If her fantasies are going to infringe on my personal life… I’m going to make it difficult for her,’ she added. ‘She was attached to the control she thought she had in this dynamic.’
Chen was questioned over a row over catering on a private jet in early 2019, shortly before she resigned, when she and De Niro returned from a holiday in Antigua.
After learning Robinson had specifically asked flight attendants not to serve food on the flight, Chen texted De Niro: ‘I’m concerned that her nasty alter ego will cause serious future problems if she isn’t called out now.’
‘She’s a mean, insecure, territorial girl and her behavior hasn’t just affected me, she does it to everyone in your life in different ways.’
Robinson alleges in her lawsuit that De Niro treated her like an ‘office wife’, and made her perform menial tasks including washing his sheets and scratching his back. Robinson also alleges that she was paid less than a male employee she felt had similar responsibilities.
She is seeking $12 million in damages for severe emotional distress and reputational harm.
Her million lawsuit was quickly launched following an initial lawsuit by De Niro’s Canal Productions in August 2019, accusing her of improper spending including transferring over $450,000 worth of airline miles from the company to her own personal account.
She is also accused of spending tens of thousands more on personal items, food and travel and spending her days binge watching Netflix.
Both lawsuits are set to be decided in the same trial, which is expected to last two weeks.