FILM legend Robert De Niro lost his temper in court yesterday when asked a string of questions about his treatment of a female assistant.
The Raging Bull star lost his rag after being accused of calling his former employee while urinating, calling her a b***h and insisting she scratched his back.
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De Niro, 80, is being sued by Graham Chase Robinson, 41, for gender discrimination and bullying.
Ms Robinson — who rose to become vice-president of the Oscar-winner’s company Canal Productions — claims she was forced to resign from that position after being turned into his “office wife”.
She wants £9.8million in damages for severe emotional distress and reputational harm.
During a civil trial in New York, De Niro’s temper flared several times, including when asked if he had phoned Ms Robinson while urinating. He snapped at her lawyer, Andrew Macurdy: “Come on! You got us all here today for this?”
De Niro, currently starring in Killers of the Flower Moon, also got tetchy when asked if he had asked Ms Robinson to scratch his back.
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The court heard she asked if he could use a back scratcher — but he refused as he liked the way she did it. De Niro said: “I never used any disrespect or lewdness or weirdness as you’re trying to imply.
“Shame on you Chase Robinson. Goddamn it. I’m sorry.”
He was also asked if he had called Ms Robinson a b***h to her face, but he said he was “never abusive”.
Other accusations included De Niro calling Ms Robinson at 6.30am on a Sunday because he couldn’t access his computer.
It was also claimed he called her while she was at her grandmother’s funeral to help him buy a bus ticket.
He said, “If I did then I did”, adding he would have been “sensitive to it being a funeral”.
He then called the question “bull” and stopped answering. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
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