Robert De Niro returned to SNL in his recurring role as special Counsel Robert Mueller for the show's cold open last night.
In the skit, Mueller - along with Attorney General William Barr (Aidy Bryant) and Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) - played out their separate roles in the release of the report from the Special Counsel.
Each performer offered an introduction at the start of the sketch. De Niro said, “Dear Attorney General Barr, officials from the Justice Department and esteemed members of Congress.”
Bryant said, “Hey, guys, William Barr here. You might want to sit down for this one.”
And Baldwin said, “Guess what? Guess what? Guess what? Daddy is about to freak.”
De Niro: “I am submitting these 380 pages.”
Bryant: “I am writing almost four pages.”
Baldwin: “I am reading zero pages, but Sean Hannity has read it and he was so excited that he texted me an eggplant.”
De Niro: “On the charge of obstruction of justice, we have not drawn a definitive conclusion.”
Bryant: “But I have, and my conclusion is: Trump’s clean as a whistle.”
In a new interview with The Guardian’s David Smith, two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro opens up about how the Trump administration’s divisive policies are worrisome for both him and his gay son.
“Yeah, I worry, and one of my kids is gay, and he worries about being treated a certain way,” says the 75-year-old actor. “We talk about it.”
De Niro, who has six mixed-race children, didn’t identify which of his four sons is gay.
In 2014, the actor debuted a new documentary, Remembering The Artist, on his father who was also gay.
De Niro says initially he took a ‘wait and see’ position on a Trump presidency.
“When you see someone like [Trump] becoming president, I thought, well, OK, let’s see what he does – maybe he’ll change,” admits De Niro. “But he just got worse. It showed me that he is a real racist.”
“I thought maybe as a New Yorker he understands the diversity in the city but he’s as bad as I thought he was before – and much worse,” he added. “It’s a shame. It’s a bad thing in this country.”
Asked by Smith if he believes Trump is a white supremacist, De Niro reportedly didn’t pause to answer, “Yes.”
Is Trump a fascist? De Niro says, “I guess that’s what it leads to.”
“If he had his way, we’d wind up in a very bad state in this country,” he continued. “I mean, the way I understand it, they laughed at Hitler. They all look funny. Hitler looked funny, Mussolini looked funny, other dictators and despots look funny.”
Since the 2016 presidential election, De Niro has become an outspoken critic of Trump.
The Raging Bull star has called Trump a ‘scumbag’ and a ‘pig’ in the past.
And in June of 2018, during an appearance at the Tony Awards, De Niro received a standing ovation when he declared, “It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump,’ it’s ‘F*ck Trump.”
For an ever-growing list of anti-LGBTQ actions taken by the Trump administration, click here.
Robert De Niro as "Robert Mueller" and Ben Stiller as "Michael Cohen"
Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller reprised their "Meet The Parents" roles for this week’s “Saturday Night Live” cold open, with De Niro playing Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Stiller playing Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
In a throwback to the movie's lie detector test scene, with Mueller interrogates Cohen about his work for the President.
The skit even included lines pulled straight from the film.
Stiller: “You can milk anything with nipples.”
De Niro: “Really? I have nipples. Can you milk me, Mr. Cohen?”
When Cohen accuses Mueller of bias, Mueller denies the allegation noting that his team uses codenames for the President and his family to prevent personal opinions from coloring the work of his team.
Trump’s codename is “Stormy’s little bitch,” Ivanka Trump is “Girlfriend,” and Erik and Donald Jr. are “Two Fredos.” Cohen is tagged “Dead Man Walking.”
Says De Niro's Mueller, "Now you listen to me, you little weasel, I don't know what rights you think you have but you broke the law and now we're gonna catch all you little Fokkers."
Today, President Barack Obama named 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The awards will be presented at the White House on November 22th.
President Obama said, "The Presidential Medal of Freedom is not just our nation's highest civilian honor - it's a tribute to the idea that all of us, no matter where we come from, have the opportunity to change this country for the better. From scientists, philanthropists, and public servants to activists, athletes, and artists, these 21 individuals have helped push America forward, inspiring millions of people around the world along the way."
Among the honorees are openly gay Ellen DeGeneres, and two of Donald Trump's biggest critics - Robert De Niro and Bruce Springsteen.
Here's the full list:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Elouise Cobell (posthumous)
Ellen DeGeneres
Robert De Niro
Richard Garwin
Bill and Melinda Gates
Frank Gehry
Margaret H. Hamilton
Tom Hanks
Grace Hopper (posthumous)
Michael Jordan
Maya Lin
Lorne Michaels
Newt Minow
Eduardo Padrón
Robert Redford
Diana Ross
Vin Scully
Bruce Springsteen
Cicely Tyson
Hollywood icon Robert De Niro says Trump is "so blatantly stupid," and called him almost every name in the book, including a "punk," a "pig," a "con," a "bozo" and an "embarrassment to this country."
"He talks how he'd like to punch people in the face?" De Niro said. "Well, I'd like to punch him in the face."
GLAAD, the world's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, honored Robert De Niro, Mariah Carey, and the best in film, television, and journalism at the 27th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Waldorf Astoria New York on Saturday.
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD's work to amplify stories from the LGBT community and issues that build support for acceptance.
At the ceremony, Academy Award-winning actress and surprise guest Jennifer Lawrence presented Robert De Niro with GLAAD's Excellence in Media Award, which is presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
In his acceptance speech, De Niro celebrated the Supreme Court’s landmark decision for marriage equality, while cautioning to “also remember oppressive laws like the ones in North Carolina that let us know the struggle continues and challenges us to be vigilant and aggressive in protecting all our rights.” De Niro continued, “Thank you for this honor, I’m proud to stand with you, I’m GLAAD.”
Also at the event, Lee Daniels presented Mariah Carey with the Ally Award, which is presented to a media figure who has consistently used their platform to support and advance LGBT equality and acceptance.
Following is a complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in New York. Additional awards were presented in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on April 2.
• Excellence in Media Award: Robert De Niro (presented by Jennifer Lawrence)
• Ally Award: Mariah Carey (presented by Lee Daniels)
• Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Bruce Jenner: The Interview" 20/20 (ABC) [accepted by: Diane Sawyer, Caitlyn Jenner, and David Sloan, senior executive producer]
• Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Interview with Jim Obergefell" Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN) [accepted by: U.S. Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell]
• Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Cosmopolitan [accepted by: Laura Brounstein, special projects director]
• Outstanding Film – Limited Release: Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
• Outstanding Individual Episode: "The Prince of Nucleotides" Royal Pains (USA Network)
• Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: "Stopping HIV? The Truvada Revolution" Vice Reports (Vice.com)
• Outstanding Newspaper Article: "Cold Case: The Murders of Cosby and Jackson" by Dianna Wray (Houston Press)
• Outstanding Magazine Article: "Behind Brazil's Gay Pride Parades, a Struggle with Homophobic Violence" by Oscar Lopez (Newsweek)
• Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: "This Is What It’s Like To Be An LGBT Syrian Fleeing For Your Life" by J. Lester Feder (Buzzfeed.com)
SPANISH-LANGUAGE NOMINEES
• Outstanding Daytime Program Episode: "¿El marido de mi padre o yo?" Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
• Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: TIE: "Amor que rompe barreras" Un Nuevo Día (Telemundo) and "En cuerpo ajeno" Aquí y Ahora (Univision)
• Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Víctimas de abusos" Noticiero Univision (Univision)
• Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: "Campeones de la igualdad" (Univision.com)
Legendary Academy Award-winner Robert De Niro covers Cigar Aficionado.
A few quotes from the ranging interview:
• Taking the role of Vito Corleone: Getting the part changed my career, or revved it up, if you will. Then winning the Academy Award [for Best Supporting Actor], you’re kind of guaranteed that you’re going to work again as an actor.
· Working with Martin Scorsese: Ask any actors who work with him. They love Marty because he’s very easy, he goes with your ideas, he’s very, very flexible, and takes whatever he can from every actor. Yet he’s very clear as a director, and guides it, the piece, in the direction he feels he should. He gives you a lot of support. I think that we were just lucky to work together all those times…It was always a joy.
· Reaction to NOT being cast for “Boardwalk Empire” on HBO, produced by Martin Scorsese: Marty didn’t ask me, but that’s fine.
· Being a director: You have to make all the decisions, you have to make them quickly at times…it’s hard to give up certain things, but you have to. When you shoot them you might have to give them up anyway for the overall story, the overall picture, and sometimes it’s hard to give them up because you’ve put so much effort into those scenes and you don’t have enough objectivity. And you have to balance what is good for the picture and what you want.
· Moving into comedy: I didn’t worry about that too much. After Analyze This, Jay Roach asked me if I wanted to do Meet the Parents. I liked Jay a lot, so that’s how it started.
· Actors who have influenced him: Brando’s great actor, I always mention him, James Dean, Montgomery Clift as the three that I was affected by.
· Who he wants to work with next: I’d like to do something with Leonardo DiCaprio
The September/October cover story hits newsstands on August 25.
It’s been more than 20 years since Robert De Niro Sr.’s death from cancer, but his memory is fresh for his son, who has preserved his father’s final home and studio in New York City’s SoHo. Filled with books, paintbrushes, and hundreds of canvases, some of which he never finished, it looks like pop stepped away for a coffee and should be back to finish another still life before dinner. The loft remains a quiet shrine to an artist that few recognize, perhaps mistaking his figurative paintings for a late Matisse or another French master. “It was the only way to keep his being, his existence alive,” De Niro explains. “To me, he was always a great artist.”
Robert De Niro the actor has never been particularly forthcoming about his personal life -- nor anything else, for that matter. The very private New York-based Oscar winner rarely gives interviews or shows up at events.
But for the first time, he reveals a great deal of his youth and upbringing, his early family life, and his relationship with his father, the late figurative painter Robert De Niro Sr., in Remembering the Artist Robert De Niro Sr.
It will make its television debut in June on HBO, and its Sundance debut was met with enthusiasm, curiosity -- and surprise. Robert De Niro Sr., we learn, was part of the post WWII set of New York painters -- Jackson Pollack, Lee Krasner, etc -- and he enjoyed initial success by being championed by Peggy Guggenheim at her New York gallery Art of This Century in the '50s.
Actor De Niro appears in the film, reading from his father's very personal journals (which reveal he left De Niro's mother, also a painter, when he realized he was gay) and talking about watching his father paint as a child.
