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Robert De Niro’s girlfriend has said the actor’s former assistant, Graham Chase Robinson believed she was his wife, describing her as “crazy,” “psychotic,” and “nuts” during fiery testimony hearing in a Manhattan, New York court on Thursday, November 2.
“I now think she believed that. I think that’s what she believes. She’s crazy,” said Tiffany Chen, 45, who has a young daughter with the “Deer Hunter” actor and has been in a relationship with him since about 2014.
“I think she knows she’s not, and that made her angry because she was striving to be-” Chen testified, before attorney Herbert McNight cut her off and asked, “Striving to be De Niro’s wife?”
“Yes,” she answered.
De Niro and girlfriend
The revelation was the latest in the ongoing legal battle between De Niro, 80, and Robinson, 41, who have both accused each other of nasty behavior during their 11 years working together.
De Niro’s production company, Canal Productions, sued Robinson in August 2019 for allegedly stealing millions of frequent flyer miles from him and avoiding her duties to watch Netflix.
Robinson then countersued and accused De Niro of being a terrible boss who subjected her to demeaning sexual harassment and treated her like his “office wife.”
Chen, however, pushed back on Robinson’s accusations, testifying that it was she who had an “imaginary intimacy” with De Niro that was fueled by an obsession with the Academy Award-winning actor.
“She’s a mean, insecure, territorial girl,” Chen said, while calling Robinson a “Dr. Jekyl-Mr. Hyde” type whose demeanor frequently and erratically changes.
Chen’s problems with Robinson became so severe that she eventually sent De Niro an ultimatum, she goes or I go, according to text messages shared in court.
“If you keep her, you and I will eventually have problems,” Chen texted De Niro around 2:30 a.m. in March 2019.
“I’m not gonna be happy until you tell me she is looking for her replacement.”
A number of praise-worthy texts Chen sent thanking Robinson for her work were also shown in court, including a 2018 message reading “Who the hell are you?!?! We need to repopulate the planet with your DNA!!!”
Chen, however, brushed them off as “sarcastic.”
“I was being sarcastic… it was kind of annoying what a crazy mess she made of everything,” she testified.
During cross-examination from attorney Richard Schoenstein, Chen was asked if she thought Robinson was romantically involved with De Niro.
“His credit card. Not him,” she answered.
Chen also accused Robinson of “stealing the whole time” she worked for De Niro, claiming she frequently took things from his home he no longer wanted which she either gave to friends or kept for herself.
When Robinson took the stand Thursday, she denied having any desire to be De Niro’s wife.
She started working for De Niro in 2008 and claimed she was “forced to resign” from the $300,000-per-year job in April 2019.
In a resignation email read to jurors, Robinson framed herself as a dedicated worker who put her life on hold to serve De Niro.
De Niro claimed in his suit that Robinson quit after “suspicions arose” about “honesty, integrity, work ethic and motivation.”
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