Gotham Awards: Robert De Niro says anti-Trump comments removed from his speech

Robert De Niro, the star of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon', appeared perplexed as he graced the stage at the Gotham Awards in New York City on Monday night.

The Oscar-winning actor was there to present the Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award for Martin Scorsese's Apple film, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone.

As De Niro started delivering his prepared speech for the award introduction, he realized that his comments had been edited.


A video featuring the renowned director and Osage chief Geoffrey Standing Bear discussing the film was shown.

Despite this, De Niro insisted on reading his original speech, which included various specific political comments, including remarks about Donald Trump.

A perplexed Robert De Niro said that his Gotham Awards speech had undergone censorship during the live ceremony. The actor stated that comments critical of Trump were taken out without prior notice.

De Niro revisited his statement, saying that he just wants to say one thing that the beginning of his speech was edited, cut out, and he didn't know about it.

“History isn’t history anymore. Truth isn’t truth, and even facts are being replaced by alternative facts and driven by conspiracy theories and ugliness,” De Niro said onstage.

‘Trump continues to lie’

De Niro criticized Trump, saying that the former president had lied more than 30,000 times during his four years in office and was continuing this trend with his current campaign of retribution.

De Niro indicated that he thought Apple, the distributor of Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, was responsible for censoring his speech.

He mentioned that he would express gratitude to Apple but expressed, "So I'm going to say these things – to Apple and thank them, all that. Gothams. Blah blah blah. Apple. But I don't really feel like thanking them at all for what they did. How dare they do that, actually?”

Celine Song's Past Lives claimed the Best Drama title at the Gotham Awards, while Lily Gladstone, De Niro's co-star in Killers of the Flower Moon, earned Best Actress for her role inThe Unknown Country.

FAQs:

Q1: What was Robert De Niro's first role?
A1: Staging of The Wizard of Oz—at 10.

Q2: Is Robert De Niro a dual citizen?
A2: Yes, he is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy.