Robert De Niro was fuming on Monday night when an allegedly edited speech he was delivering via prompter caused him to mess up his lines.
The 80-year-old acting icon was on hand at the Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York City to deliver a speech in tribute to his critically acclaimed Western crime epic Killers Of The Flower Moon, which was directed by his longtime friend and collaborator Martin Scorsese.
But during the speech, which preceded him accepting the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award on the film’s behalf, the Taxi Driver star appeared to get confused and paused, before backtracking and trying to explain what had thrown him off.
De Niro — who was joined at the Gotham Awards by his costars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone — made it clear that he had originally planned to include several cutting remarks about former President Donald Trump, but he seemingly accused the awards show and Apple, which produced Killers Of The Flower Moon, of having edited his remarks.
Trump has long been despised by De Niro, and the star has bashed him mercilessly for years ever since stepping up his public criticisms ahead of the 2016 election. Last month, De Niro sent a statement to be read in his absence at the Stop Trump Summit, which was organized by The New Republic magazine.
The De Niro incident comes as British right-wing politician Nigel Farage had his remarks about his friendship with Donald Trump edited from a UK reality show, sparking censorship claims.
Out of his element: Robert De Niro, 80, flubbed his lines and looked confused after part of his anti-Trump speech was allegedly edited out without his knowledge at the 2023 Gotham Awards on Monday
Accepting: De Niro was paying tribute to his new film Killers Of The Flower Moon (pictured) and accepting the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award on its behalf
‘I’m going to go back. I’m sorry. Okay there was a mistake in this. I’ll keep going. Just keep scrolling,’ he said at the Gotham Awards while clearly frustrated, via Variety. ‘Filmmakers on the other hand strive — this is where I came in and I saw that they edited all that.’
‘I just want to say one thing,’ De Niro continued. ‘The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, and I didn’t know about it. And I want to read it.
‘History isn’t history anymore. Truth is not truth. Even facts are being replaced by alternative facts and driven by conspiracy theories and ugliness,’ he said as he delved into his earlier remarks.
‘In Florida, young students are taught that slaves were taught skills that could be applied for their personal benefit,’ De Niro continued. ‘The entertainment industry isn’t immune to this festering disease.
He also referenced a racist statement from a 1971 Playboy interview with John Wayne.
‘The Duke, John Wayne, famously said of Native Americans, “I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.”
‘Lying has become just another tool in the charlatan’s arsenal. The former President lied to us more than 30,000 times during his four years in office. And he’s keeping up the pace in his current campaign of retribution. But in all his lies, he can’t hide his soul,’ De Niro continued. ‘He attacks the weak, destroys the gifts of nature and shows disrespect by, for example, using Pocahontas as a slur.
De Niro ended by slamming the Gotham Awards and Killers Of The Flower Moon’s producer Apple, which he seemingly blamed for cutting part of his remarks out.
After saying he had arrived at the part of his speech where he was supposed to thank Apple and the Gotham awards, he said: ‘But I don’t really feel like thanking them at all for what they did.
‘I just want to say one thing,’ De Niro continued. ‘The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, and I didn’t know about it. And I want to read it’
Furious: He criticized right-wing laws passed around the country in recent years and attacked former President Donald Trump
No shame: At the end, he said he would normally thank his movie’s producer Apple and the Gotham Awards, but he no longer felt like it. ”How dare they do that?’ he said aghast
Costars: De Niro was surrounded onstage by DiCaprio and several of the Native American actors and members of the Osage Nation who consulted on the making of the film
‘How dare they do that, actually? But now I will go to accepting the award…’ he concluded before the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute was presented to Killers Of The Flower Moon.
De Niro was surrounded onstage by DiCaprio and several of the Native American actors and members of the Osage Nation who consulted on the making of the film.
The film, which is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann, details how the Osage Nation became among the richest people in the world in the early 20th century after the seemingly worthless land that they were forced to relocate to in Oklahoma turned out to be flush with oil.
However, white members of the community began to steal the tribes money by having many members of it declared ‘incompetent,’ forcing them to be put under conservatorships.
Others were murdered by their white spouses in order to collect their share of the oil money, sometimes via poisoning, though others were simply shot or even killed with explosives.
The reign of terror led and the investigation into it eventually led to the creation of the modern FBI.
So far, the epic film has received rapturous reviews, with critics particularly singling out De Niro, DiCaprio and Gladstone.
Gladstone won one of the major awards at the ceremony, though not for Killers, surprisingly.
Instead, she won for outstanding lead actress for The Unknown Country, an indie drama in which she stars as a woman who goes on a road trip after the grandmother she has been caring for dies.
Dark: His film Killers Of The Flower Moon details how Osage Nation members were murdered by white people in their community after oil was discovered on their land
Catching up: De Niro was seen chatting with his costar Lily Gladstone, who won one of the top acting prizes for The Unknown Country, while seated with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen
Coupled up: Earlier in the evening, De Niro was spotted arriving at the Gotham Awards with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen
Lucky number seven: In May of this year, he revealed that the couple had welcomed a child, his seventh
On the move: Tiffany could be seen walking in to the building — and bypassing the red carpet — while wearing an all-black ensemble, and De Niro was covered up in a dark suit
The win is likely to establish Gladstone as an Oscar frontrunner, though she’s much more likely to be nominated for Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Earlier in the evening, De Niro was spotted arriving at the Gotham Awards with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen.
In May of this year, he revealed that the couple had welcomed a child, his seventh.
Tiffany could be seen walking in to the building — and bypassing the red carpet — while wearing an all-black ensemble, and De Niro was covered up in a dark suit.