Robert De Niro shouted “shame on you” at his former assistant across a courtroom, as he rejected claims that he was an abusive and demeaning boss.
The star was speaking on the second day of a civil trial in which he and Graham Chase Robinson are suing each other.
De Niro insisted he was “never abusive” but admitted he could have called her a “brat” when he missed an appointment because she did not wake him up.
“I got angry that one time,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
The Raging Bull and Taxi Driver actor accepted that he “berated her” on that occasion and was “upset” but not abusive.
In testimony that was at times bad-tempered, De Niro dismissed Ms Robinson’s suggestions that her time working for him was one of endless servitude, Deadline reported.
“She implies that she’s out in front of the building on her knees scrubbing the floor,” he said.
“There was never any lewdness or disrespect or weirdness that you’re trying to imply,” De Niro said, before looking at her and exclaiming: “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”
He conceded that he had asked her to scratch his back once or twice when he had an itch in a spot he could not reach, but said “it was never done with any disrespect”.
Among other things, Ms Robinson has also said he once asked her to deliver a martini from the Nobu restaurant to him in an Uber late at night.
“Might have been,” De Niro replied, according to the Times, arguing that the use of an Uber was justified.
When asked about calling her twice because he wanted her to buy his teenage son a bus ticket, the actor replied: “So?” He denied knowing she was at a family member’s funeral at the time.
‘Stereotypically female’ tasks
Ms Robinson became the actor’s assistant in 2008, before being promoted to vice-president of production and finance at his company Canal Productions.
She left in 2019 and sued the double Oscar winner for $12m (£9.8m).
Ms Robinson claims he underpaid her because she’s a woman, made sexist comments, treated her like an “office wife” and assigned her “stereotypically female” tasks like mending clothing and doing laundry.
De Niro told the court on Monday her allegations were “all nonsense”.
He is suing Ms Robinson for $6m, accusing her of improperly transferring more than $450,000 in airline miles to her personal account, spending tens of thousands of dollars of company money on food, travel and other personal services, and binge-watching Netflix at work.
Her lawyers have said his lawsuit is full of “false allegations”. The New York trial is expected to last for two weeks.
