Robert De Niro’s former assistant testified in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday that the actor made her do tasks more suited to a “girlfriend” or “wife” — and told her the task was a “good skill” for her to have when she complained .
“I was asked to wash Bob’s sheets, and choose the fabric for his sofa,” Graham Chase Robinson, 41, complained on the witness stand in his ongoing legal battle with the Oscar winner, who he worked for between 2008 and 2019.
“I’m the VP of Production and Finance and I’m ordering a vacuum cleaner, preparing for Martin Scorsese’s birthday,” he quipped, referring to the famous director and longtime friend De Niro.
Despite his lofty title at De Niro’s production company, Robinson said he was burdened with supposedly menial tasks, including: Helping choose schools for the actor’s children; collecting his prescriptions; buy plants and decorate his house; or pick up jewelry and go to an antique shop for it.
“I think I took care of his kids, took care of him, took care of his ex-girlfriend,” he testified.
“You do that with your girlfriend or your wife,” Robinson said he told his former boss, complaining that the job didn’t fit his position.
Graham Chase Robinson, 41, says Robert De Niro forced him to do homework.Getty Images
But De Niro, 80, gave him an escape.
“His answer to me was, ‘It’s a good skill for me to have,'” Robinson told the court.
De Niro and Robinson sued and countersued each other in 2019 after he left the actor’s production company, Canal Productions, that year.
She accused him of stealing frequent flyer miles and neglecting her duties, while she claimed the “Dirty Grandpa” star subjected her to degrading sexual harassment and treated her as an “office wife.”
Robert De Niro, 80, is suing Chase Robinson and accusing him of stealing millions of frequent flyer miles from him.Getty Images
Robinson began working for De Niro in 2008, and, after serving as his assistant for nine years, was promoted to vice president of production and finance — a title he created and approved by De Niro, according to trial testimony.
Her duties in that role consisted of organizing De Niro’s personal logistics for the film he was starring in, including budgeting for his crew, booking hotels for him and his family and managing his personal schedule in conjunction with the filming schedule, Robinson testified Friday.
“Bob won’t give me time off. He wouldn’t give me a private moment,” he said on Tuesday, describing a stifling and sometimes aggressive work environment.
Sometimes, “he would ask someone to yell at me for him,” Robinson told the court.
De Niro testified that Chase Robinson was a lazy worker, admitting he asked him to scratch his back once or twice.AP
Robinson said De Niro’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, also harassed him by “taunting” him with “degrading” homework.
Pressed on cross-examination about whether De Niro and Chen, 45, did the housework they allegedly did that men couldn’t do, Robinson admitted they could do it.
On Monday, jurors heard a phone call from 2019 that Robinson secretly recorded in which he called Chen “sociopathic,” “f-king nuts,” and “power drunk.”
He testified Tuesday that he regretted calling Chen about it, but that he recorded the call because he didn’t think anyone would believe what he said about De Niro.
“Bob will be believed because it’s Robert De Niro. I feel like people won’t believe me,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
