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Tag: Robert De Niro

  • Eddie Murphy to receive life achievement award from the American Film Institute

    Eddie Murphy is being celebrated with a life achievement award from the American Film Institute, AFI’s board of trustees said Friday. The award will be handed out at a gala tribute in Los Angeles, at the Dolby Theatre, on April 18.

    “Eddie Murphy is an American icon,” said Kathleen Kennedy, who chairs the institute’s board of trustees. “A trailblazing force in the art forms of film, television and stand-up comedy, his versatility knows no bounds.”

    Murphy, 64, has been a force in entertainment for nearly 50 years, as a teenage stand-up phenomenon, on television as a part of the “Saturday Night Live” cast, and in film where he’s ruled the box office in multiple decades, with hits like “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Coming to America,” “The Nutty Professor” and the “Shrek” movies. In 2007, he was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for “Dreamgirls,” which had already earned him a Screen Actors Guild award and a Golden Globe, but he didn’t win the Academy Award.

    In a new documentary about his life and career, “Being Eddie,” which is currently streaming on Netflix, Murphy reflected that he was more annoyed about having to put on a tux and go to the event than he was about losing.

    “It’s always wonderful to win stuff, but if I don’t win, I don’t give a (expletive),” he said. “I’m still Eddie in the morning.”

    In 2023, Murphy got the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, where he kept his remarks to a speedy two minutes. He told The Associated Press in 2021 that he has a different perspective on things than he did during the height of his fame.

    “You take everything for granted when you’re young, how successful I was,” Murphy said. “Now I take nothing for granted and appreciate everything.”

    AFI’s gala tributes are often starry affairs. Last year at Francis Ford Coppola’s dinner, Steven Spielberg, Robert De Niro and Harrison Ford were among those who turned out to toast Coppola.

    Murphy is the 51st recipient of the AFI life achievement award, which was first handed out in 1973 to John Ford. Other recent honorees include Nicole Kidman, Julie Andrews and Denzel Washington.

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  • Jane Rosenthal Talks Tribeca Festival Lisboa, New CEO and NY Fest’s 25th Edition in 2026

    Tribeca Festival head Jane Rosenthal sees in the classic song “New York, New York” — with the memorable line “if I can make it there, I’m gonna make it anywhere” — the inspiration in helping launch Tribeca Festival Lisboa in Portugal.  

    “I was always inspired by that song. When I was a kid growing up, I was inspired by ‘New York, New York,’” Rosenthal told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday in Lisbon. But she insisted an increasingly global entertainment industry has moved on since she and Robert De Niro co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival nearly 25 years ago after the 9/11 attacks in New York City.

    “There’s so many other places that if you make it there, you can make it anywhere,” Rosenthal added. She also said Tribeca was bringing its programming to Tribeca Festival Lisboa but aimed to put a local touch on the Portuguese event, now in its second year, by bringing in the local media industry as collaborators.

    “It’s not about putting our mark and making it a Tribeca Festival. The Tribeca Festival belongs in New York. It is very much New York,” Rosenthal argued. But what Tribeca does bring to Lisbon is its infrastructure and expertise after its programmers have gone worldwide to find the best in media content.

    “It’s been wonderful to come to a city, a country that doesn’t have that kind of infrastructure, but as a community is in need of that. Our partners here really want to support artists and to support storytelling,” Rosenthal said.

    She also comes to Lisbon this week ahead of handing over the reins as Tribeca Enterprises CEO to Rebecca Glashow, most recently CEO of the BBC global media and streaming division. Rosenthal said the idea of passing on the baton at Tribeca had been in our mind for some time.

    “I’m a creative producer. I have been making movies even while being CEO,” she explained. “I want at this stage of my life to be able to work on more of those projects, as well as work on more of the content and brand work that we do at Tribeca without the day-to-day operational work that you have to do as CEO.”

    “After 25 years, I don’t think I have anything else to explain or tell,” Rosenthal added. She will assume the role of co-chair of the board alongside chairman James Murdoch and will help oversee the Tribeca Festival into its 25th anniversary and remain a key advisor to the Tribeca brand. 

    “Bob and I started this baby. I don’t think you turn around and walk away from your kids very easily,” she insisted. Rosenthal will work with Glashow to mark the Tribeca Festival’s 25th anniversary in 2026.

    But she isn’t giving much away as plans for the major milestone have yet to be hammered out: “I would be so happy to tell you what I’m going to do if I actually knew. We’re still in very early stages of our programming.”

    Rosenthal does expect many filmmakers who were discovered at Tribeca to return for the anniversary, as well as people who began as interns at the festival before going on to major careers in the entertainment business.

    The Tribeca Festival Lisboa continues through Nov. 1.  

    Etan Vlessing

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  • 5 arrested in connection with overdose death of Robert De Niro’s grandson

    Five people have been federally charged in connection with the 2023 overdose death of actor Robert De Niro’s grandson and two others, authorities said Thursday.

    The five men, all in their 20s, are charged in connection with the the overdose deaths of three 19-year-olds in 2023, including Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, Akira Stein, daughter of Blondie co-founder Chris Stein, and an unnamed victim, according to a news release from the Drug Enforcement Administration. 

    The five suspects were identified as Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, Grant McIver and brothers John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas. 

    They all face charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl and alprazolam, resulting in the deaths of De Niro-Rodriguez, Stein and the third victim. If convicted as charged, they face a minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. 

    Epperson was arrested Tuesday in Troy, New York, the DEA said, while McIver was arrested Tuesday in Houston, Texas. John Nicolas was arrested Saturday in Buffalo, New York, while Roy Nicolas was arrested Saturday in Valley Stream, New York. Barreto surrendered to authorities Wednesday in Manhattan. All five have made their initial court appearances. 

    De Niro-Rodriguez’s mother Drena De Niro previously said he died after being sold pills laced with fentanyl. The medical examiner ruled his death accidental, caused by mix of fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs.

    “Defendants who distributed the drugs, who killed these young 19-year-olds knew that they were deadly,” Clayton said.

    Prosecutors allege the five people arrested used social media and encrypted messaging apps to sell thousands of counterfeit prescription opioid pills laced with fentanyl to teens and young adults.

    “Drug trafficking organizations have weaponized social media in a way that allows them to expand their network, make more profits and, unfortunately, get more people addicted to their poison,” Frank Tarentino, special agent in charge for the DEA’s New York Division, said in a news conference Thursday.

    One of the victims allegedly warned one of the five suspects arrested that the drugs they had sold her caused her to overdose, and  she told him “just warn customers in batch might be extra strong,” according to federal court documents. She later died after another overdose, prosecutors said.

    The second victim died of an overdose two weeks later, and De Niro-Rodriguez died of an overdose less than a month after that. 

    De Niro-Rodriguez and his mother appeared in the 2018 movies “A Star Is Born” and “Cabaret Maxime.” He was also credited with an appearance in 2005’s “The Collection.”

    19 others accused of running drug network in Washington Square Park

    In addition, 19 other people were federally charged with running a drug distribution racket in New York City’s Washington Square Park since 2020. The 19 charged have nicknames like “Scarface,” “Butter,” “Hollywood” and “Heavy,” prosecutors said, and face charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.

    The indictment alleges they “maintained a year-round market for opioids and crack cocaine” in the park, adding the various defendants have been arrested more than 80 times for drug-related crimes and, when they were released, they returned to the park and kept selling drugs. 

    “The defendants are aware that their drugs cause overdoses,” prosecutors wrote.

    Pictures in the indictment reportedly show the scene after two people fatally overdosed on drugs containing fentanyl, allegedly sold to them from dealers in the Washington Square Park area.

    The victims included an 18-year-old who had just arrived in the city two days after graduating from high school and a 43-year-old person experiencing homelessness who was found dead on a sidewalk.

    Law enforcement officials say the investigation into the park took 16 months. They would not confirm whether or not more arrests could be coming. They would only say the investigation is ongoing.

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  • NY Fentanyl Ring Charged in Deaths of Robert De Niro’s Grandson

    Federal prosecutors say five men ran a New York drug network that sold counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl to teens; including Robert De Niro’s grandson and Blondie co-founder Chris Stein’s daughter, killing both within weeks

    LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 05: Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro attend the Netflix 2020 Golden Globes After Party on January 05, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

    Credit: Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix

    Federal authorities in the Southern District of New York announced the arrest of five men in connection with a deadly counterfeit pill distribution network that resulted in 9 overdoses and claimed the lives of at least two teens. The teens were 19-year-old Leandro De Niro‑Rodriguez, a grandson of actor Robert De Niro, and 19-year-old Akira Stein, daughter of Blondie co-founder Chris Stein in 2023.

    According to the indictment, unsealed in federal court, defendants Grant McIver, Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas operated a network that distributed thousands of counterfeit prescription pills laced with fentanyl and other illicit drugs to teens and young adults in New York City. The indictment links the group’s counterfeit “Perc 30” and “M-30” pills to at least nine overdoses, including those of the two 19-year-old victims.

    Prosecutors say Leandro De Niro Rodriguez died on July 2, 2023, after ingesting a pill that contained fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine. His death was ruled accidental by the New York City Medical Examiner. 

    Akira Stein died six weeks earlier, on May 30, 2023, after reportedly warning one of the dealers that a batch of pills was “extra strong” just hours prior to her overdose. Despite the warning, the same batch was sold again to Leandro De Niro Rodriguez weeks later, who died from the same mix, per the indictment.

    The arrests follow earlier charges in 2023 against Sofia H. Marks, known in media reports as the “Percocet Princess,” who allegedly supplied pills to Leandro. 

    Federal agents say the pill-trafficking crew shockingly marketed their product on social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok. They used emojis like 💊💙 or code phrases (“blues,” “bars,” “pressies”) to disguise fentanyl laced products. The indictment also outlines a “referral system” where buyers could earn discounts by recruiting other users; including high-school and college-aged customers. Text messages quoted in the filing include lines like “Send 2 more kids my way and your next blues free.” Prosecutors call this “one of the most cynical fentanyl marketing operations” seen in the city.

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    Young buyers were told the pills were “Percocets,” but lab testing later showed they contained deadly quantities of fentanyl and designer tranquilizers such as bromazolam. They specifically targeted teenagers. The “network” reportedly dates back to at least 2019. The investigation remains active with additional suspects and overdose deaths under review.

    Lauren Conlin

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  • In ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ fitting a filmmaking titan into the frame

    NEW YORK (AP) — The first time the filmmaker Rebecca Miller met Martin Scorsese was on the set of 2002’s “Gangs of New York.” Miller’s husband, Daniel Day-Lewis, was starring in it. There, Miller found an anxious Scorsese on the precipice of the film’s enormous fight scene, shot on a sprawling set.

    “He seemed like a young man, hoping that he had chosen the right way to shoot a massive scene,” Miller recalls. “I was stunned by how youthful and alive he was.”

    That remains much the same throughout Miller’s expansive and stirring documentary portrait of the endlessly energetic and singularly essential filmmaker. In “Mr. Scorsese,” which premieres Friday on Apple TV, Miller captures the life and career of Scorsese, whose films have made one of the greatest sustained arguments for the power of cinema.

    “We talk about 32 films, which is a lot of films. But there are yet more films,” Miller says, referencing Scorsese’s projects to come. “It’s a life that overspills its own bounds. You think you’ve got it, and then it’s more and more and more.”

    Scorsese’s life has long had a mythic arc: The asthmatic kid from Little Italy who grew up watching old movies on television and went on to make some of the defining New York films. That’s a part of “Mr. Scorsese,” too, but Miller’s film, culled from 20 hours of interviews with Scorsese over five years, is a more intimate, reflective and often funny conversation about the compulsions that drove him and the abiding questions — of morality, faith and filmmaking — that have guided him.

    American film director Martin Scorsese gestures during a news conference in Rome to promote his movie “New York, New York,” Oct. 14, 1977. (AP Photo/Massimo Sambucetti)

    “Who are we? What are we, I should say?” Scorsese says in the opening moments of the series. “Are we intrinsically good or evil?”

    “This is the struggle,” he adds. “I struggle with it all the time.”

    Miller began interviewing Scorsese during the pandemic. He was then beginning to make “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Their first meetings were outside. Miller first pitched the idea to Scorsese as a multifaceted portrait. Then, she imagined a two-hour documentary. Later, by necessity, it turned into a five-hour series. It still feels too short.

    “I explained I wanted to take a cubist approach, with different shafts of light on him from all different perspectives — collaborators, family,” Miller says. “Within a very short amount of time, he sort of began talking as if we were doing it. I was a bit confused, thinking, ‘Is this a job interview or a planning situation?’”

    Scorsese’s own documentaries have often been some of the most insightful windows into him. In one of his earliest films, “Italianamerican” (1974), he interviewed his parents. His surveys of cinema, including 1995’s “A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies” and 1999’s “My Voyage to Italy,” have been especially revealing of the inspirations that formed him. Scorsese has never penned a memoir, but these movies come close.

    While the bulk of “Mr. Scorsese” are the director’s own film-to-film recollections, a wealth of other personalities color in the portrait. That includes collaborators like editor Thelma Schoonmaker, Paul Schrader, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Day-Lewis. It also includes Scorsese’s children, his ex-wives and his old Little Italy pals. One, Salvatore “Sally Gaga” Uricola for the first time is revealed as the model for De Niro’s troublemaking, mailbox-blowing-up Johnny Boy in “Mean Streets.”

    “Cinema consumed him at such an early age and it never left him,” DiCaprio says in the film. “There will never be anyone like him again,” says Steven Spielberg.

    Director Martin Scorsese gestures during his presentation of the Platinum Award to Leonardo DiCaprio at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Jan. 30, 2005, in Santa Barbara, Calif. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant)

    Director Martin Scorsese gestures during his presentation of the Platinum Award to Leonardo DiCaprio at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Jan. 30, 2005, in Santa Barbara, Calif. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant)

    It can be easy to think of Scorsese, perhaps the most revered living filmmaker, as an inevitability, that of course he gets to make the films he wants. But “Mr. Scorsese” is a reminder how often that wasn’t the case and how frequently Scorsese found himself on the outside of Hollywood, whether due to box-office disappointment, a clash of style or the perceived danger in controversial subjects (“Taxi Driver,” “The Last Temptation of Christ”) he was drawn to.

    “He was fighting for every single film,” Miller says. “Cutting this whole thing was like riding a bucking bronco. You’re up and you’re down, you’re dead, then alive.”

    Film executives today, an especially risk-averse lot, could learn some lessons from “Mr. Scorsese” in what a difference they can make for a personal filmmaker. As discussed in the film, in the late ’70s, producer Irwin Winkler refused to do “Rocky II” with United Artists unless they also made “Raging Bull.”

    For Miller, whose films include “The Ballad of Jack and Rose” and “Maggie’s Plan,” being around Scorsese was an education. She found his films began to infect “Mr. Scorsese.” The cutting of the documentary took on the style of his film’s editing. “In proximity to these film,” she says, “you start to breathe the air.”

    Nearness to Scorsese also inevitably means movie recommendations. Lots of them. One that stood out for Miller was “The Insect Woman,” Japanese filmmaker Shōhei Imamura’s 1963 drama about three generations of women.

    “He’s still doing it,” Miller says. “He’s still sending me movies.”

    “Mr. Scorsese” recently debuted at the New York Film Festival, where Miller’s son, Ronan Day-Lewis made his directorial debut with “Anemone,” a film that marked her husband’s return from retirement. At the “Mr. Scorsese” premiere, a packed audience at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall came to enthusiastically revel in, and pay tribute to its subject.

    “You hear all those people laughing with him or suddenly bursting into applause when they see Thelma Schoonmaker or at the end of the ‘Last Waltz’ sequence,” Miller says. “There was a sense of such palpable enthusiasm and love. My husband said something I thought was very beautiful: It reminded everyone of how much they love him.”

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  • Robert De Niro Says ‘We Can’t Let Up’ the Fight Against Trump Because ‘He Does Not Want to Leave the White House’: ‘There’s No Other Way to Face a Bully’

    Robert De Niro is telling Americans to keep protesting against Donald Trump.

    After Saturday’s nationwide No Kings protests, De Niro told MSNBC that the country needs to show “much more” resistance, because that’s “the only thing the politicians are going to recognize.” He added that we need to make lawmakers “more afraid of the wrath of the people” than the “wrath of Trump.”

    “We can’t let up,” De Niro said. “Cannot let up on him because he is not going to leave the White House. He does not want to leave the White House. He will not leave the White House. Anybody thinks he, oh, he’ll do this, he’ll do that, it’s just diluting themselves.”

    He added, “The Republicans, most of all, because they know, but they’re going along with it. It’s a classic bully situation. We see it, and there’s no other way to face a bully. You have to face him and fight it out and back them off and back him down. That’s the only way this is going to work.”

    The Oct. 18 No Kings protests were joined by nearly 7 million people, according to MSNBC. ICE’s aggressive immigration crackdown remains a key issue in the nationwide demonstrations, as they were during the first No Kings protests in June. National Guard presence in major cities and sweeping cuts to federal programs were also major motivators for participants.

    De Niro was one of the many Hollywood mainstays to speak out in support of the No Kings movement. On Oct. 9, he appeared in a video on the TikTok account of political activist group Indivisible to encourage people to attend the No Kings protests.

    “The original No Kings protest was 250 years ago,” De Niro said. “Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III. They declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy. We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy since then. Often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential.”

    He continued, “Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away: King Donald the First. Fuck that. We’re rising up again, this time, nonviolently raising our voices to declare: No Kings.”

    Jack Dunn

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  • ‘All in this together’: Robert De Niro calls on Americans to protest – National | Globalnews.ca

    Robert De Niro is encouraging people in the United States to join the “No Kings” protests against U.S. President Donald Trump, happening across America on Oct. 18.

    In a video shared to Instagram, De Niro, 82, spoke about the “original ‘No Kings’ protest” that took place 250 years ago.

    “Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III. They declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy,” De Niro said. “We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy since then. Often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential. And we’ve fought in two World Wars to preserve it.”

    “Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away — King Donald the First. F— that,” the Oscar winner continued. “We’re rising up again, this time non-violently raising our voices to declare, ‘No Kings.’”

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    “I’m Robert De Niro asking you to stand up and be counted in the nationwide ‘No Kings’ protest on October 18th,” the actor said, concluding. “We’re all in this together — indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

    The “No Kings” protests first took place this year in hundreds of American cities on June 14 during a military parade in Washington that marked the U.S. army’s 250th anniversary, which coincided with Trump’s birthday.

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    The protests were held to counter what organizers said were Trump’s plans to feed his ego on his 79th birthday (which was also Flag Day). The “No Kings” theme was orchestrated by the 50501 Movement — which stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement, and is made up of members of the American public who say they stand for democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration.

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    Protesters have called for Trump to be “dethroned,” as they compare his actions to that of a king and not a democratically elected president.

    “They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services,” the group says on its website, referring to the Trump administration and its policies. “They’ve done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies.”


    Click to play video: 'Innocent bystander killed after being mistakenly shot by security volunteer at Utah ‘No Kings’ rally'


    Innocent bystander killed after being mistakenly shot by security volunteer at Utah ‘No Kings’ rally




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    Stephen Colbert also called for people to join the protests on Tuesday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

    “In response to all this obvious abuse of authoritarian power by the administration, this weekend, ladies and gentlemen, there will be 2,500 rallies across the United States under the banner of the ‘No Kings’ protest,” Colbert said, before cutting to a clip of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson referring to the protests as the “Hate America rally.”

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    “Hate America? It’s ‘No Kings.’ America does not like kings. There are only three good kings in America: Gayle (King), Stephen (King) and Burger (King),” he added.

    The “No Kings” coalition responded to Johnson’s comments, referring to the protest as the “Hate America rally” and blaming it for “the ongoing government shutdown.”

    “Speaker Johnson is running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down. Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings,” the group said, adding that they will “see everyone on October 18.”

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    — With files from The Associated Press


    &copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

    Katie Scott

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  • Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 17-23

    Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 17-23:

    Aug. 17: Actor Robert De Niro is 82. Guitarist Gary Talley of The Box Tops is 78. “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes is 76. Actor Robert Joy (“CSI: NY”) is 74. Singer Kevin Rowland of Dexy’s Midnight Runners is 72. Bassist Colin Moulding of XTC is 70. Country singer-songwriter Kevin Welch is 70. Singer Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s is 67. Actor Sean Penn is 65. Jazz saxophonist Everette Harp is 64. Guitarist Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses) is 63. Singer Maria McKee (Lone Justice) is 61. Drummer Steve Gorman (The Black Crowes) is 60. Singer-bassist Jill Cunniff (Luscious Jackson) is 59. Actor David Conrad (“Ghost Whisperer,” “Relativity”) is 58. Rapper Posdnuos of De La Soul is 56. Actor-singer Donnie Wahlberg (New Kids on the Block) is 56. TV personality Giuliana Rancic (“Fashion Police,” ″E! News”) is 51. Actor Bryton James (“Family Matters”) is 39. Actor Brady Corbet (“24,” “Thirteen”) is 37. Actor Austin Butler (“Dune: Part Two,” “Elvis”) is 34. Actor Taissa Farmiga (“American Horror Story”) is 31.

    Aug. 18: Actor Robert Redford is 89. Actor Henry G. Sanders (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) is 83. Drummer Dennis Elliott (Foreigner) is 75. Comedian Elayne Boosler is 73. Country singer Steve Wilkinson of The Wilkinsons is 70. Comedian-actor Denis Leary is 68. Actor Madeleine Stowe is 67. TV news anchor Bob Woodruff is 64. Actor Adam Storke (“Mystic Pizza”) is 63. Actor Craig Bierko (“Sex and the City,” ″The Long Kiss Goodnight”) is 61. Singer Zac Maloy of The Nixons is 57. Musician Everlast (House of Pain) is 56. Rapper Masta Killa of Wu-Tang Clan is 56. Actor Edward Norton is 56. Actor Christian Slater is 56. Actor Kaitlin Olson (“The Mick,” ″It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) is 50. Comedian Andy Samberg (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” ″Saturday Night Live”) is 47. Guitarist Brad Tursi of Old Dominion is 46. Actor Maia Mitchell (“The Fosters”) is 32. Actor Madelaine Petsch (“Riverdale”) is 31. Actor Parker McKenna Posey (“My Wife and Kids”) is 30.

    Aug. 19: Actor Debra Paget (“The Ten Commandments,” “Love Me Tender”) is 92. Actor Diana Muldaur (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 87. Actor Jill St. John is 85. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 82. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 81. Singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple is 80. Actor Gerald McRaney is 78. Actor Jim Carter (“Downton Abbey”) is 77. Singer-guitarist Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass is 77. Bassist John Deacon of Queen is 74. Actor Jonathan Frakes (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 73. Actor Peter Gallagher is 70. Actor Adam Arkin is 69. Singer-songwriter Gary Chapman is 68. Actor Martin Donovan is 68. Singer Ivan Neville is 66. Actor Eric Lutes (“Caroline in the City”) is 63. Actor John Stamos is 62. Actor Kyra Sedgwick is 60. Actor Kevin Dillon (“Entourage”) is 60. Country singer Lee Ann Womack is 59. Former MTV reporter Tabitha Soren is 58. Country singer Clay Walker is 56. Rapper Fat Joe is 55. Actor Tracie Thoms (“Cold Case”) is 50. Actor Erika Christensen (“Parenthood”) is 43. Actor Melissa Fumero (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) is 43. Actor Tammin Sursok (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 42. Singer Karli Osborn (SHeDaisy) is 41. Rapper Romeo (formerly Lil’ Romeo) is 36. Actor Ethan Cutkosky (TV’s “Shameless”) is 26.

    Aug. 20: News anchor Connie Chung is 79. Trombone player Jimmy Pankow of Chicago is 78. Actor Ray Wise (“Reaper,” ″Twin Peaks”) is 78. Actor John Noble (“Lord of the Rings” films) is 77. Singer Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) is 77. Singer Rudy Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers is 73. Singer-songwriter John Hiatt is 73. Actor-director Peter Horton (“thirtysomething”) is 72. “Today” show weatherman Al Roker is 71. Actor Jay Acovone (“Stargate SG-1”) is 70. Actor Joan Allen is 69. Director David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle”) is 67. Actor James Marsters (“Angel,” ″Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is 63. Rapper KRS-One is 60. Actor Colin Cunningham (“Falling Skies”) is 59. Actor Billy Gardell (“Mike and Molly”) is 56. Singer Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit is 55. Actor Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) is 55. Guitarist Brad Avery of Third Day is 54. Actor Misha Collins (“Supernatural”) is 51. Singer Monique Powell of Save Ferris is 50. Actor Ben Barnes (“Westworld,” ″Prince Caspian”) is 44. Actor Meghan Ory (“Once Upon a Time”) is 43. Actor Andrew Garfield (“The Amazing Spider-Man”) is 42. Actor Brant Daugherty (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 40. Singer-actor Demi Lovato is 33.

    Aug. 21: Guitarist James Burton (with Elvis Presley) is 86. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 84. Actor Patty McCormack (“Frost/Nixon,” “The Ropers”) is 80. Singer Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams is 78. Actor Loretta Devine (“Boston Public”) is 76. Newsman Harry Smith is 74. Singer Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) is 73. Guitarist Nick Kane (The Mavericks) is 71. Actor Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City”) is 69. Actor Cleo King (“Mike and Molly”) is 63. Singer Serj Tankian of System of a Down is 58. Actor Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix,” ″Chocolat”) is 55. Musician Liam Howlett of Prodigy is 54. Actor Alicia Witt (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” ″Cybill”) is 50. Singer-chef Kelis is 46. Actor Diego Klattenhoff (“The Blacklist”) is 46. TV personality Brody Jenner (“The Hills”) is 42. Singer Melissa Schuman of Dream is 41. Comedian Brooks Wheelan (“Saturday Night Live”) is 39. Actor Cody Kasch (“Desperate Housewives”) is 38. Musician Kacey Musgraves is 37. Actor Hayden Panettiere (“Nashville,” ″Heroes”) is 36. Actor RJ Mitte (“Breaking Bad”) is 33. Actor Maxim Knight (“Falling Skies”) is 26.

    Aug. 22: Newsman Morton Dean is 90. TV writer/producer David Chase (“The Sopranos”) is 80. Correspondent Steve Kroft (“60 Minutes”) is 80. Guitarist David Marks of The Beach Boys is 77. Guitarist Vernon Reid of Living Colour is 67. Country singer Collin Raye is 65. Actor Regina Taylor (“The Unit,” ″I’ll Fly Away”) is 65. Singer Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears is 64. Drummer Debbi Peterson of The Bangles is 64. Guitarist Gary Lee Conner of Screaming Trees is 63. Singer Tori Amos is 62. Keyboardist James DeBarge of DeBarge is 62. Country singer Mila Mason is 62. Rapper GZA (Wu-Tang Clan) is 59. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (“Oz,” “Lost”) is 58. Actor Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”) is 58. Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis is 55. Actor Melinda Page Hamilton (“Devious Maids,” ″Mad Men”) is 54. Actor Rick Yune (“Die Another Day,” “The Fast and the Furious”) is 54. Guitarist Paul Doucette of Matchbox Twenty is 53. Rapper Beenie Man is 52. Singer Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys is 52. Comedian Kristen Wiig (“Bridesmaids,” ″Saturday Night Live”) is 52. Actor Jenna Leigh Green (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 51. Keyboardist Bo Koster of My Morning Jacket is 51. Bassist Dean Back of Theory of a Deadman is 50. Actor and TV host James Corden is 47. Guitarist Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan is 47. Actor Brandon Adams (“The Mighty Ducks”) is 46. Actor Aya Sumika (“Numb3rs”) is 45. Actor Ari Stidham (TV’s “Scorpion”) is 33.

    Aug. 23: Actor Vera Miles is 95. Actor Barbara Eden is 94. Actor Richard Sanders (“WKRP In Cincinnati”) is 85. Country singer Rex Allen Jr. is 78. Actor David Robb (“Downton Abbey”) is 78. Singer Linda Thompson is 78. Actor Shelley Long is 76. Fiddler-singer Woody Paul of Riders in the Sky is 76. Singer-actor Rick Springfield is 76. Actor-producer Mark Hudson (The Hudson Brothers) is 74. Actor Skipp Sudduth (“The Good Wife”) is 69. Guitarist Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots is 64. Singer-bassist Ira Dean of Trick Pony is 56. Actor Jay Mohr is 55. Actor Ray Park (“X-Men,” ″The Phantom Menace”) is 51. Actor Scott Caan (“Hawaii Five-0”) is 49. Singer Julian Casablancas of The Strokes is 47. Actor Joanne Froggatt (“Downton Abbey”) is 45. Actor Jaime Lee Kirchner (“Bull”) is 44. Saxophonist Andy Wild of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats is 44. Actor Annie Ilonzeh (“Chicago Fire”) is 42. Musician Sky Blu of LMFAO is 39. Actor Kimberly Matula (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) is 37.

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  • Biden campaign says its raised over $28 million ahead of Hollywood fundraiser featuring Obama, dozens of celebrity supporters

    Biden campaign says its raised over $28 million ahead of Hollywood fundraiser featuring Obama, dozens of celebrity supporters

    Within 24 hours, President Joe Biden will have gone from the G7 Summit to George Clooney.

    Mr. Biden left Italy late Friday night after a meeting with world leaders and arrived in Los Angeles early Saturday morning ahead of a star-studded evening fundraiser with former President Barack Obama, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Clooney and actress Julia Roberts.

    The Biden-Harris campaign says they’ve already raised $28 million going into Saturday night’s event, a record sum for a single Democratic fundraiser. It also eclipses the $26 million the Biden campaign raised from a March fundraiser in New York City with Biden, Obama and former President Bill Clinton. 

    Election 2024 Biden
    President Joe Biden waves as he arrives on Air Force One, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. Biden will attend a campaign event Saturday night.

    Alex Brandon / AP


    Saturday’s star-studded affair will feature a moderated interview of Biden and Obama by Kimmel that is expected to be focused on health care. Kimmel has been a public advocate of the Affordable Care Act, passed by Obama and Biden, after his newborn son had open-heart surgery in 2017.  

    Clooney and Roberts will serve as hosts of Saturday’s event. Appearances from actors Jason Bateman, Jack Black, Kathryn Hahn and Sheryl Lee Ralph are also expected, along with an undisclosed musical guest.  

    Other celebrities, such as Keegan-Michael Key, Connie Britton, Misha Collins, Jeri Ryan, Jonathan Del Arco, Mandana Dayani, Blake Cooper Griffin and Adam Met, will be in attendance, according to the Biden campaign. 

    Prices for tickets at Saturday’s event ranged from $250 to $500,000, though grassroots donors could chip in $20 to watch the fundraiser virtually. 

    Hollywood actors have had a presence on the campaign trail in support of Biden in recent weeks. Robert De Niro took part in a May campaign press conference outside the lower Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial was taking place. Ralph of “Abbott Elementary” campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania, and Jane Fonda appeared at a campaign event in Reno, Nev. with first lady Jill Biden on Friday.

    The money comes at a time when the race is tight between Biden and Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. A CBS News poll from June found Mr. Biden up 1 point in the battleground states, a virtual tie. The Biden campaign says money raised Saturday will go to growing their grassroots operation (field offices, staffers) and towards paid media.

    “This Saturday we are going to see an unprecedented and record-setting turnout from the media and entertainment world. The enthusiasm and commitment for Biden/Harris couldn’t be stronger. We all understand this is the most important election of our lifetime,” said Biden-Harris campaign co-chair and film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg. 

    While Mr. Biden has held a sizeable cash advantage throughout most of the cycle, Mr. Trump has seen his own fundraising grow. His campaign says they raised $52.8 million in the 24 hours after he was convicted on 34 felony counts from his “hush money” trial.

    The Trump campaign says they also raised a record-breaking $50.5 million at an April fundraiser in Florida. 

    Mr. Clooney’s involvement in the fundraiser brought some intrigue after the Washington Post reported in June that he had called a White House advisor to air grievances with Biden’s criticism of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Clooney’s wife Amal works on. Biden has criticized the ICC’s application for arrest warrants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.

    Several days after, the Biden campaign sent out a fundraising text from Clooney. 

    “I’m not exaggerating when I say that this election is the fight of our lives,” the text blast from Clooney reads. “It’s a choice between those who want to pull America back to the past, and those who want to move America into the future.” 

    Aaron Navarro

    Aaron Navarro is a CBS News digital reporter covering the 2024 elections. He was previously an associate producer for the CBS News political unit in the 2021 and 2022 election cycles.

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  • Robert De Niro Compares Donald Trump To Nazi Party Leader Adolf Hitler: “It’s Almost Like He Wants To Do The Most Horrible Things That He Can Think Of”

    Robert De Niro Compares Donald Trump To Nazi Party Leader Adolf Hitler: “It’s Almost Like He Wants To Do The Most Horrible Things That He Can Think Of”

    ‘Pure evil’: Robert De Niro unleashes on Donald Trump via MSNBC, YouTube

    Far-Left actor Robert De Niro has joined the very exclusive club of Hollywood stars that have tastelessly compared Donald Trump to Nazi Party Leader Adolf Hitler, baselessly claiming that re-electing the former president would be “f—king scary.”

    Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), Netflix
    Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), Netflix

    RELATED: Robert De Niro Rants About Apple Editing Out Anti-Trump Tirade From His Gotham Awards Speech: “I Don’t Feel Like Thanking Them At All For What They Did”

    In a recent interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle — who quoted the actor’s own words calling the former president a “con artist” — De Niro declared “He is more than that to me,” later adding that he believes Trump is “sick.”

    “He’s really, genuinely a sick person that somehow has been allowed into our system,” the actor opined. “And I’m tired of calling him names — he just can’t be anywhere near the office of the presidency.”

    Regurgitating a question De Niro has been asked in more than one occasion in recent time, Ruhle inquired, “You’ve played a lot of bad guys, would you ever play Donald Trump?” To which the actor replied, “Never. There’s nothing about him… not one redeeming thing in him that I can see, ever.”

    “It’s funny, I was just thinking that he actually became president,” he continued before, without bringing forth any piece of empirical evidence to back his delusional claim, De Niro accused, “He could’ve done good things [and] instead he just had to do it all wrong. He is so, as we all know, he is so narcissistic and self-centered.”

    Robert De Niro: - People don't recognize me anymore | How he looks at fame and his own legacy via Kjersti Flaa, YouTube
    Robert De Niro: – People don’t recognize me anymore | How he looks at fame and his own legacy via Kjersti Flaa, YouTube

    RELATED: Hollywood Actor Michael Rapaport Reiterates Voting For Donald Trump Is Still An Option: “I Won’t Vote For Joe Biden”

    When asked what his message to registered voters who don’t like Trump but will still choose to vote for him in the upcoming presidential election, De Niro declared, “I don’t understand it. I don’t think they understand how dangerous it will be if he ever, God forbid, becomes president. “

    “I don’t think they really understand,” he further asserted. “And historically, from what I see, even in Nazi Germany they had it with Hitler. Don’t take him seriously. He looks like a clown and acts like a clown. Mussolini… same thing.”

    Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes and Ben Stiller as Greg Focker in Meet the Parents (2000), Universal Pictures
    Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes and Ben Stiller as Greg Focker in Meet the Parents (2000), Universal Pictures

    De Niro, who moments earlier said he was tired of calling Trump names, proceeded to call the former president a clown, adding, “These guys, I don’t know why, they look like clowns and somehow people… that element of society identifies in some ways with him but it would be chaos beyond our imagination.”

    “There’s no mystery about [Trump], he is right out front, and what he says is what it’ll be if he becomes president,” De Niro further yapped, before he said that the country’s democracy will be at risk if Trump won the election.

    Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)
    Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)

    RELATED: Robert De Niro Clutches Pearls Over Another Possible Trump Presidency, Says “He’ll Come Looking For Me” Because “That’s What Happens In That Kind Of A Dictatorship”

    “I always keep saying [that] democracy is great, of course, but democracy people take for granted. It is a word some people don’t even understand — they take it for granted,” the actor lamented. “It’s about right and wrong. Period. [Trump] is a monster — he is beyond wrong.”

    Yet again he would proceed to baselessly accuse, “It’s almost like he wants to do the most horrible things that he can think of in order to get a rise out of us. I don’t know what it is but he’s been doing it and doing it, and it’s f—king scary.”

    Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin in Joker (2019), Warner Bros. Pictures
    Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin in Joker (2019), Warner Bros. Pictures

    As he kept rambling, De Niro also said that he started to see similarities between an eventual Trump presidency and Nazi Germany. Recounting when people from Eastern Europe and Jews arrived in the US as they escaped during World War II, the actor said, “When I was a kid, they would say, ‘You don’t really appreciate this country. You don’t really. We know from experience.’”

    “Imagine what those people went through,” De Niro pondered, adding, “I’m just starting to see it. As a kid I said, ‘Hitler is a nightmare, that would never happen,’ but now I see that it’s possible,” before he went on to declare that re-electing Joe Biden is the only choice America has.

    Joe Biden appears to fall asleep during COP26 speeches via The Telegraph, YouTube
    Joe Biden appears to fall asleep during COP26 speeches via The Telegraph, YouTube

    He said of Biden, “We don’t have a choice, and I think he is the right guy. He is trying to do the right thing. We don’t have a choice, and I say that in a very positive, good way.”

    NEXT: ‘Monty Python’ Star John Cleese Compares Former President Donald Trump To Nazi Party Leader Adolf Hitler In Bizarre Social Media Post

    Josh Berger

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  • Alarmist Actor Robert De Niro Makes Appearance Outside New York Court House, Says “Government Will Perish From The Earth” If Donald Trump Is Reelected

    Alarmist Actor Robert De Niro Makes Appearance Outside New York Court House, Says “Government Will Perish From The Earth” If Donald Trump Is Reelected

    Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), Netflix

    Long-time TDS sufferer Robert De Niro has made an appearance at the Biden campaign’s press conference outside the New York courthouse as closing arguments in Donald Trump’s hush money case were under way, making the delusional claim that the US “government will perish from the earth” if the former president is reelected.

    Robert De Niro Reflects On 13 Moments From His Life | PEOPLE via People, YouTube
    Robert De Niro Reflects On 13 Moments From His Life | PEOPLE via People, YouTube

    RELATED: Robert De Niro Compares Donald Trump To Nazi Party Leader Adolf Hitler: “It’s Almost Like He Wants To Do The Most Horrible Things That He Can Think Of”

    “I mean, this is really… even these people over here are kind of,” the far-Left actor said outside of the Manhattan courthouse, before stopping himself and adding, “It’s kind of crazy. It’s really crazy and this thing… Donald Trump, has created this.”

    “He should be telling them not to do this,” De Niro went on, making allusion to the people who showed up to support the former president. “But he’s just… He wants to sell total chaos — which he’s succeeding in some areas and places to do.”

    After saying how much he loves New York, the alarmist actor proceeded to imply Trump a terrorist, declaring, “We vowed we would not allow terrorists change our way of life, and we started the Tribeca Festival to bring people back.”

    “I love this city. I don’t want to destroy it,” he went on, before claiming, “Donald Trump wants to destroy not only this city but the country and, eventually, he could destroy the world. I owe this city a lot and that’s why it’s so weird that Donald Trump is just across the street, because he doesn’t belong in my city.”

    Robert De Niro: - People don't recognize me anymore | How he looks at fame and his own legacy via Kjersti Flaa, YouTube
    Robert De Niro: – People don’t recognize me anymore | How he looks at fame and his own legacy via Kjersti Flaa, YouTube

    RELATED: Robert De Niro Believes That If Elected, Donald Trump Would Install Himself As Dictator: “His Slogan Should Be ‘F—k America, I Want To F—k America’”

    De Niro further blabbered, “We, New Yorkers, used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot. A two-bit playboy lying his way into the tabloids pretending to be a spokesman, a spokesperson, for himself.”

    “He was calling it as himself for himself to fool the press into inflating his net worth; a clown. But this city is pretty accommodating. We make room for clowns. We have them all over the city,” the insufferable actor said as all irony is lost on him.

    Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), Netflix
    Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), Netflix

    He further declared, “Around the country, people who didn’t know him as we did, started to support him. They bought into his bulls—t. Trump bought their votes with outrageous lies and empty promises. He got the most religious evangelicals to applaud a sinner who bragged about sexual assault.”

    “Somehow he even got self-styled patriots to support a man who called for terminating the constitution,” De Niro claimed, twisting the former president’s words suggesting the “termination” of the constitution could be allowable as he reacted to the news about the Democrat Party colluding with Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story.

    Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes and Ben Stiller as Greg Focker in Meet the Parents (2000), Universal Pictures
    Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes and Ben Stiller as Greg Focker in Meet the Parents (2000), Universal Pictures

    RELATED: Robert De Niro Clutches Pearls Over Another Possible Trump Presidency, Says “He’ll Come Looking For Me” Because “That’s What Happens In That Kind Of A Dictatorship”

    Further accusing, without providing any empirical evidence to back his already debunked claim, De Niro added, “And on January 6th rallied an angry mob to threaten democracy; leaving death and destruction in its wake.”

    “That’s why I needed to be involved, and wanted to be involved, in the new Biden-Harris ad,” he declared, adding, “Because it shows the violence of Trump and reminds us that he’ll use violence against anyone who stands in the way of his megalomania and greed.”

    Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin in Joker (2019), Warner Bros. Pictures
    Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin in Joker (2019), Warner Bros. Pictures

    He then encouraged, “With Trump we have a second chance, and no one is laughing now. This is the time to stop him by voting him out once and for all. WE don’t want to wake up after the election saying, ‘What, again? My God, what the Hell have we done?’ We can’t have that happen again.”

    “Yesterday was Memorial Day. It’s a good time to reflect on how Americans fought and died so that we may enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to us by a Democratic government. A Government that, as president Lincoln said, ‘Of the people, by the people, for the people. Shall not perish from the earth.’”

    'Pure evil': Robert De Niro unleashes on Donald Trump via MSNBC, YouTube
    ‘Pure evil’: Robert De Niro unleashes on Donald Trump via MSNBC, YouTube

    He then baselessly warned, “Under Trump this kind of government will perish from the earth. If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye, that we all take for granted, and elections? Forget about it. That’s over. That’s done.”

    “If he gets in, I can tell you right now he will never leave. He will never leave. You know that? He will never leave,” De Niro reiterated. “What does that mean? Is that the country we want to live in? Do we want him running this country? And saying, ‘I’m not leaving. I’m dictator for life’?”

    NEXT: Mainstream Media Criticizes ‘The Apprentice’ Biopic For Making Donald Trump Look “Too Sympathetic”

    Josh Berger

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  • Robert De Niro Believes That If Elected, Donald Trump Would Install Himself As Dictator: “His Slogan Should Be ‘F—k America, I Want To F—k America'”

    Robert De Niro Believes That If Elected, Donald Trump Would Install Himself As Dictator: “His Slogan Should Be ‘F—k America, I Want To F—k America’”

    Robert De Niro Reflects On 13 Moments From His Life | PEOPLE via People, YouTube

    Far-Left actor and perpetual TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] sufferer Robert De Niro has baselessly claimed that Donald Trump supporters are angry and hateful individuals, also suggesting that Trump’s presidential slogan should be “F—k America.”

    Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin in Joker (2019), Warner Bros. Pictures
    Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin in Joker (2019), Warner Bros. Pictures

    RELATED: Robert De Niro Clutches Pearls Over Another Possible Trump Presidency, Says “He’ll Come Looking For Me” Because “That’s What Happens In That Kind Of A Dictatorship”

    During a recent appearance on ABC’s ultra-woke The View — in what seems to be a yet another desperate attempt to remain relevant —De Niro weighed in on the upcoming presidential election, as Trump leads the polls in a handful of key swing states.

    “I don’t understand why people are not taking him seriously,” the actor pondered, adding, “because, you read about it [and] historically in other countries that they didn’t take the people seriously — I think of Hitler [and] Mussolini — they’re fools and clowns.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZydE8qmW5M

    He went on, “Who does not think that [Trump] is going to do exactly what he says he’s going to do? He’s done it already. And then what? We’re going to sit around and say ‘What? We told you so,’ It’s going to happen. If he gets elected, it’s going to change this country.”

    “And they might think that it’s going to make their lives better, they just want to — excuse my French — they just want to f—k with the rest of the country,” De Niro kept beating the dead horse. “Literally. Those people who support him with anger and hate, cause that’s what [Trump] is about, they’re going to see.”

    Continuing his nonsensical rambling, De Niro added, “I see what a hateful, mean-spirited, awful thing he is. He’s vicious,” before he regurgitated his already baseless claim, declaring, “And why would he not do that in this country? He’s already done it.”

    Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), Netflix
    Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), Netflix

    RELATED: ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Actress Whoopi Goldberg Points To Arizona Abortion Ruling As Proof That Republicans “Want To Bring Back Slavery”

    Alluding to the infamous comments he made about the 45th President — when the woke actor said he would “like to punch him in the face” — De Niro stated, “When I say I want to punch him in the face it’s because of what he said to a person, a bystander or somebody in one of his rallies [that] he wants to punch him in the face — you don’t talk that way to people. What kind of person does that?”

    “He’s done everything. What more do you need? It’s almost like he wants to do the worst that he can possibly do to show this country… to f—k with us,” De Niro continued, suggesting, “His slogan should be ‘F—k America, I want to f—k America.’”

    One-trick pony Whoopi Goldberg (Trey Parker) mocks Republicans in South Park Season 3 Episode 2 "Spontaneous Combustion" (1999), Comedy Central
    One-trick pony Whoopi Goldberg (Trey Parker) mocks Republicans in South Park Season 3 Episode 2 “Spontaneous Combustion” (1999), Comedy Central

    Agreeing with De Niro, insufferable The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg baselessly claimed that another Trump presidency would be like a never-ending dictatorship, spouting, “The thing is, if he becomes president he’s not going to not stop being president. You understand this? His idea is to stay in until he drops dead.”

    De Niro would add to Goldberg’s comments, declaring, “That’s it. He’s not conceding it now, so imagine if he actually did win the election,” and also baselessly predicting, “We’re going to have such civil strife. All the things he says, because everybody is now on to him where he projects what he’s saying.”

    Robert De Niro: - People don't recognize me anymore | How he looks at fame and his own legacy via Kjersti Flaa, YouTube
    Robert De Niro: – People don’t recognize me anymore | How he looks at fame and his own legacy via Kjersti Flaa, YouTube

    RELATED: Hollywood Actor Michael Rapaport Reiterates Voting For Donald Trump Is Still An Option: “I Won’t Vote For Joe Biden”

    “It’s what he wants,” the far-Left actor opined. “What he envisions the world to be, which is chaos and craziness; total craziness.”

    De Niro loves to bring up that the former president said he would like to punch somebody in the face. What he always fails to mention, unsurprisingly, is that the heckler at Trump’s Las Vegas rally, held in February of 2016, was not only throwing punches himself but also causing disturbances before he was escorted out.

    At the time, President Trump addressed the situation and noted that due to that time’s political climate, individuals who were physically threatened were not allowed to fight back. “Bye bye,” said the former president as security took care of the heckler.

    “See, he’s smiling,” Trump pointed out. “He’s having a good time. I love the old days, you know? You know what I hate? There’s a guy totally disruptive, throwing punches… we’re not allowed to punch back any more. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”

    FULL RALLY: President Donald Trump | Las Vegas, Nevada via LiveNOW From FOX, YouTube
    FULL RALLY: President Donald Trump | Las Vegas, Nevada via LiveNOW From FOX, YouTube

    Trump continued, “You know, I love our police and I really respect our police, and they’re not getting enough. They’re not. Honestly, I hate to see that. Here’s a guy throwing punches, nasty as Hell, screaming at everything else when we’re talking, and, you know, the guards are very gentle with him.”

    “He’s walking out like… big high fives, smiling, and laughing. I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell you,” the 45th President concluded.

    NEXT: Robert De Niro Compares Donald Trump To Nazi Party Leader Adolf Hitler: “It’s Almost Like He Wants To Do The Most Horrible Things That He Can Think Of”

    Josh Berger

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  • David Axelrod: The role Robert De Niro should have turned down

    David Axelrod: The role Robert De Niro should have turned down

    (CNN) — Robert De Niro has brilliantly played many roles in his long and storied acting career. He might, on second thought, have turned down the one for which he was cast on Tuesday.

    For more than five weeks, President Joe Biden had mostly avoided plunging into the reality show that has been Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in Manhattan. Biden did not want to feed Trump’s feverish charge that he was the cause of the former president’s myriad legal problems.

    Even as a parade of Republican applicants, supplicants and attention addicts has shown up at the criminal court building in lower Manhattan to pledge their fealty to Trump, the White House has remained (mostly) silent, and prominent Democrats have stayed away. Recently Biden has been inserting humorous asides about the trial. “I’ve had a great stretch since the State of the Union, but Donald has had a few rough days lately. You might call it ‘stormy weather,’” he dad-joked at the White House Correspondents Dinner last month.

    Opinion by David Axelrod

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  • The Latest | Jury sends first note during deliberations in Trump’s criminal hush money trial

    The Latest | Jury sends first note during deliberations in Trump’s criminal hush money trial

    NEW YORK – Jury deliberations in Donald Trump ‘s criminal hush money trial began Wednesday after the panel received instructions from the judge on the law governing the case and what they can take into account in evaluating the former president’s guilt or innocence.

    The historic deliberations followed Tuesday’s whirlwind of closing arguments, which stretched into the evening hours as prosecutor Joshua Steinglass accused Trump of intentionally deceiving voters by allegedly participating in a “catch-and-kill” scheme to bury stories that might obliterate his 2016 presidential bid. Steinglass further suggested that Trump operated with a “cavalier willingness” to hide payoffs and did so in a way that left “no paper trail.”

    The defense approached its summation much in the same way it approached cross-examination: by targeting the credibility of star witness Michael Cohen. Defense lawyer Todd Blanche branded Trump’s former lawyer as “the greatest liar of all time” while urging jurors to quickly acquit his client.

    Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charges which are punishable by up to four years in prison. He has denied all wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

    At the heart of the charges are reimbursements paid to Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in exchange for not going public with her claim about a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.

    Prosecutors say the reimbursements were falsely logged as “legal expenses” to hide the true nature of the transactions.

    The case is the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial and is the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president.

    Currently:

    — Cohen’s credibility, campaigning at court and other highlights from closing arguments

    — Rallies and debates used to define campaigns. Now they’re about juries and trials

    — Biden’s campaign shows up outside Trump’s trial with Robert De Niro and others

    — Another big name will be at the courthouse in Manhattan on Wednesday: Harvey Weinstein

    — Trump hush money case: A timeline of key events

    Here’s the latest:

    JURY SENDS FIRST NOTE TO JUDGE

    The jury in Donald Trump’s criminal trial has sent its first note to the judge. The note’s contents have not yet been made public but will be read in court soon. The jury, which is deliberating in secret in a side room, indicated it had a note by ringing a courtroom bell at 2:56 p.m., about 3½ hours into deliberations.

    While deliberating, juries can only communicate with the judge by note. They may involve questions such as requests to hear portions of testimony or rehear certain instructions.

    STUCK WAITING AT THE COURTHOUSE, TRUMP RANTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

    Donald Trump’s complaints on social media about the hush money case persisted Wednesday as the jury deliberated.

    “IT IS RIDICULOUS, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND UNAMERICAN that the highly Conflicted, Radical Left Judge is not requiring a unanimous decision on the fake charges against me brought by Soros backed D.A. Alvin Bragg,” he wrote. “A THIRD WORLD ELECTION INTERFERENCE HOAX!”

    Despite his declaration, any verdict in the case has to be unanimous: guilty or not guilty.

    If the jurors disagree, they keep deliberating. If they get to a point where they are hopelessly deadlocked, then the judge can declare a mistrial.

    If they convict, they must agree that Trump created a false entry in his company’s records or caused someone else to do so, and that he did so with the intent of committing or concealing another crime — in this case, violating a state election law.

    What the jurors do not have to agree on, however, is which way that election law was violated.

    HOW LONG WILL THE JURY DELIBERATE?

    Jurors in Donald Trump’s criminal trial will deliberate as long as they need to.

    The standard court day runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a break for lunch. But judges sometimes extend the hours if jurors wish. In this case, Judge Juan M. Merchan already has decided that deliberations will proceed on Wednesday, which is normally a day off from the trial.

    There’s no limit on how many days deliberations can continue.

    WHITE HOUSE: BIDEN’S ATTENTION ISN’T FOCUSED ON TRUMP’S TRIAL

    As jury deliberations get underway in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, the White House says President Joe Biden’s attention is focused elsewhere.

    “The president’s focused on the American people, delivering for the American people,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with Biden to Philadelphia, where he has campaign events scheduled Wednesday. “That’s his focus.”

    FACT CHECK: YES, THE JURY MUST COME TO A UNANIMOUS VERDICT

    As the jury begins its deliberations in Donald Trump’s hush money case, claims are spreading across social media that Judge Juan M. Merchan told the panel they don’t need a unanimous verdict to convict Trump.

    That’s false.

    To convict Trump, Merchan told the jury they will have to find unanimously — that is, all 12 jurors must agree — that the former president created a fraudulent entry in his company’s records or caused someone else to do so, and that he did so with the intent of committing or concealing another crime.

    What’s being distorted by some online is the judge’s instruction about how to reach a verdict about that second element.

    Prosecutors say the crime Trump committed or hid is a violation of a New York election law making it illegal for two or more conspirators “to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means.”

    Merchan gave the jurors three possible “unlawful means”: falsifying other business records, breaking the Federal Election Campaign Act or submitting false information on a tax return.

    For a conviction, each juror would have to find that at least one of those three things happened, but they don’t have to agree unanimously which it was.

    COURTROOM SHUTTING DOWN FOR LUNCH

    The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money case will deliberate through the lunch hour, but no action will occur and no notes will be passed during the break. Court will resume at 2:15 p.m.

    THE JURY HAS BEEN SENT TO DELIBERATE. WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN?

    Jury deliberations proceed in secret, in a room reserved specifically for jurors and through an intentionally opaque process.

    Jurors can communicate with the court through notes that ask the judge, for instance, for legal guidance or to have particular excerpts of testimony read back to them. But without knowing what jurors are saying to each other, it’s hard to read too much into the meaning of any note.

    It’s anyone’s guess how long the jury in Donald Trump’s hush money case will deliberate for and there’s no time limit either. The jury must evaluate 34 counts of falsifying business records and that could take some time. A verdict might not come by the end of the week.

    To reach a verdict on any given count, either guilty or not guilty, all 12 jurors must agree with the decision for the judge to accept it.

    Things will get trickier if the jury can’t reach a consensus after several days of deliberations. Though defense lawyers might seek an immediate mistrial, Judge Juan M. Merchan is likely to call the jurors in and instruct them to keep trying for a verdict and to be willing to reconsider their positions without abandoning their conscience or judgment just to go along with others.

    If, after that instruction, the jury still can’t reach a verdict, the judge would have the option to deem the panel hopelessly deadlocked and declare a mistrial.

    TRUMP: ‘MOTHER TERESA COULD NOT BEAT THESE CHARGES’

    Former President Donald Trump told reporters after jurors began deliberating in his criminal hush money trial that the charges were rigged and again accused the judge of being conflicted. He further said that “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges.”

    “What is happening here is weaponization at a level that nobody’s seen before ever and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen,” Trump said.

    Trump repeated accusations that the criminal charges were brought by President Joe Biden’s administration to hit him, as the president’s main election opponent.

    TRUMP MUST STAY IN THE COURTHOUSE

    After jurors left the courtroom to begin deliberations, Judge Juan M. Merchan told Donald Trump and his lawyers that they were required to remain in the courthouse.

    “You cannot leave the building. We need you to be able to get here quickly if we do receive a note,” Merchan said.

    After Merchan left the bench, Trump turned and walked to chat with his son, Donald Trump Jr. and lawyer Alina Habba.

    MERCHAN ADDRESSES ALTERNATE JURORS

    After the main jury in Donald Trump’s hush money case left the courtroom Wednesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan told the six alternates who remain in the courtroom that they will remain on standby in the courthouse as deliberations get underway.

    He thanked them for their service and diligence, noting he saw one of the alternates go through three notebooks.

    He said, “There might be a need for you at some point in deliberations.”

    The alternates will be kept separate from the main jury and must also surrender their phones to court officers while deliberations are in progress. If a member of the main panel is unable to continue, an alternate can take that person’s place and deliberations will begin anew.

    JURY DELIBER

    ATIONS UNDERWAY

    Jurors in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial have begun deliberating after Judge Juan M. Merchan finished instructing them Wednesday morning on the law governing the case and what they can consider as they work toward a verdict.

    The trial is the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president.

    TWO ELEMENTS PROSECUTORS MUST PROVE FOR A GUILTY VERDICT

    Prosecutors are required to prove two elements for each of the counts in order to find Donald Trump guilty, Judge Juan M. Merchan told the jurors.

    They must find that he “personally or by acting in concert with another person or persons made or caused a false entry in the records” or a business. Prosecutors must also prove that Trump did so with the intent to commit or conceal another crime.

    Prosecutors allege the other crime that Trump intended to commit or conceal was a violation of a state election law regarding a conspiracy to promote or prevent an election by unlawful means.

    The alleged unlawful means that jurors must consider are:

      1. Violations of federal campaign finance law

      2. Falsifying other business records, such as paperwork used to establish the bank account used to pay Stormy Daniels, bank records and tax forms

      3. Violation of city, state and federal tax laws, including by providing false or fraudulent information on tax returns, “even if it does not result in underpayment of taxes”

    EXPLAINING ‘CONSPIRACY TO PROMOTE OR PREVENT ELECTION’

    In reading instructions to the jury in Donald Trump’s criminal trial, Judge Juan M. Merchan also went over New York’s law against “conspiracy to promote or prevent election,” a statute that’s important to the case.

    Prosecutors claim that Trump falsified business records to cover up alleged violations of the election conspiracy law. The alleged violations, prosecutors say, were hush money payments that really amounted to illegal campaign contributions.

    Under New York law, it’s a misdemeanor for two or more people to conspire to promote or prevent a candidate’s election “by unlawful means” if at least one of the conspirators takes action to carry out the plot.

    The judge noted that the law also requires that a defendant have the intent unlawfully to prevent or promote the candidate’s election — not just that a defendant knows about the conspiracy or be present when it’s discussed.

    In the defense’s closing argument Tuesday, Trump attorney Todd Blanche urged jurors to reject prosecutors’ election conspiracy assertions, insisting that “every campaign in this country is a conspiracy to promote a candidate.”

    EXPLAINING ACC

    ESSORIAL LIABILITY

    Judge Juan M. Merchan instructed jurors on the concept of accessorial liability, under which a defendant can be held criminally responsible for someone else’s actions.

    That’s a key component of the prosecution’s theory of Donald Trump’s hush money case because while Trump signed some of the checks at issue, people working for his company processed Michael Cohen’s invoices and entered the transactions into its accounting system.

    To hold Trump liable for those actions, Merchan said jurors must find beyond a reasonable doubt that he solicited, requested or commanded those people to engage in that conduct and that he acted intentionally.

    Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass touched on accessorial liability in his closing argument Tuesday, telling jurors: “No one is saying the defendant actually got behind a computer and typed in the false vouchers or stamped the false invoices or printed the false checks.”

    “But he set in motion a chain of events that led to the creation of the false business records,” Steinglass said.

    Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.

    HOW TO JUDGE THE TRUTH

    The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal trial gave the jury some guidance on factors it can use to assess witness testimony, including its plausibility, its consistency with other testimony, the witness’s manner on the stand and whether the person has a motive to lie.

    But, the judge said, “There is no particular formula for evaluating the truthfulness and accuracy of another person’s statement.”

    The principles he outlined are standard but perhaps all the more relevant after Trump’s defense team leaned heavily on questioning the credibility of key prosecution witnesses, including the ex-president’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen.

    Jurors appeared alert and engaged as Judge Juan M. Merchan instructed them Wednesday morning. Several took notes as he recited instructions.

    JUDGE TO JURORS: PERSONAL BIAS MUST BE PUT ASIDE

    The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal trial reminded jurors Wednesday morning of their solemn responsibility to decide Trump’s guilt or innocence, gently and methodically reading through standard jury instructions that have a special resonance in the former president’s high-profile case.

    “As a juror, you are asked to make a very important decision about another member of the community,” Judge Juan M. Merchan said, underscoring that — in the eyes of the law — the jurors and Trump are peers.

    Merchan also reminded jurors of their vow, during jury selection, “to set aside any personal bias you may have in favor of or against” Trump and decide the case “fairly based on the evidence of the law.”

    Echoing standard jury instructions, Merchan noted that even though the defense presented evidence, the burden of proof remains on the prosecutor and that Trump is “not required to prove that he is not guilty.”

    “In fact,” noted Merchan, “the defendant is not required to prove or disprove anything.”

    READING OF JURY INSTRUCTIONS UNDERWAY

    The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial has entered the courtroom and taken their seats. Ahead of deliberations, Judge Juan M. Merchan has begun instructing the panel on the law that governs the case and what they can consider as they work toward a verdict.

    Jurors will not receive copies of the instructions, but they can request to hear them again as many times as they wish, Merchan said.

    “It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It is yours,” he told them.

    Trump leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as Merchan told jurors that reading the instructions would take about an hour.

    TRUMP ARRIVES AT

    COURT

    Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the courthouse in lower Manhattan as proceedings in his hush money trial are set to resume.

    He did not stop to speak to reporters as he typically does before entering court each day.

    Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., joined him in the courtroom Wednesday morning and was in the first row of the gallery behind the defense table, sitting alongside Trump lawyer and spokesperson Alina Habba.

    TRUMP POSTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE HEADING TO COURT

    Donald Trump posted again on his social media network before he left Trump Tower to head to the courthouse Wednesday morning, making another all-caps rant about the hush money trial, the judge and Michael Cohen.

    He called it a “KANGAROO COURT!” and falsely claimed that Judge Juan M. Merchan barred him from defending himself by claiming that his alleged actions were taken on the advice of his then-lawyer, Cohen. Trump’s lawyers in March notified the court that they would not rely on that defense.

    “THERE WAS NO CRIME, EXCEPT FOR THE BUM THAT GOT CAUGHT STEALING FROM ME!” Trump said, apparently referring to Cohen. He added: “IN GOD WE TRUST!”

    Trump is prohibited under a gag order from making out-of-court statements about witnesses in the case, and he was previously penalized for comments about Cohen.

    It’s unclear if Trump’s latest rant would rise to the level of a violation — or if prosecutors would seek to have the former president sanctioned for it. The judge has also indicated that he’d give Trump leeway in certain instances to respond to attacks from Cohen.

    TRUMP’S MOTORCADE HEADS TO COURT

    Donald Trump’s motorcade has left Trump Tower and is on its way to the courthouse in lower Manhattan where his hush money trial will resume.

    The jury in the case is expected to begin deliberations after receiving instructions from the judge later in the day.

    WHO IS ON THE JURY?

    The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is comprised of 18 Manhattan residents.

    The main jury includes seven men and five women. There are also six alternate jurors who’ve listened to the testimony but won’t join in the deliberations unless one of the main jurors needs to drop out or is removed.

    The jury members represents a diverse cross-section of the borough and come from various professional backgrounds, including a sales professional, a software engineer, a security engineer, a teacher, a speech therapist, multiple lawyers, an investment banker and a retired wealth manager.

    Jurors’ names are being kept from the public.

    A RECAP OF TESTIMONY JURORS HEARD IN THE CASE

    Across more than four weeks of testimony, prosecutors called 20 witnesses. The defense called just two.

    Among the prosecution’s key witnesses: Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, porn actor Stormy Daniels, tabloid publisher David Pecker and lawyer Keith Davidson, who negotiated hush money deals for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

    Cohen testified that he paid $130,000 in hush money to Daniels at Trump’s behest weeks before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about her claims of a sexual encounter with him a decade earlier. Trump denies the encounter took place. Cohen also said Trump was involved in an arrangement to repay him and log the payments as legal expenses.

    Daniels gave an at-times graphic account of the alleged encounter.

    Pecker testified about agreeing to be the “eyes and ears” of Trump’s campaign by tipping Cohen off to negative stories, including Daniels’ claim.

    Davidson talked about negotiating the deals and what he said was Cohen’s frustration after the Daniels deal that Trump still hadn’t repaid him.

    The defense’s big witness was attorney Robert Costello, who testified last Monday and Tuesday about negotiating to represent Cohen after the FBI raided Cohen’s properties in 2018.

    HOW WILL THE JURY DELIBERATIONS WORK?

    Jury deliberations in Donald Trump’s hush money trial will proceed in secret, in a room reserved specifically for jurors and in a process that’s intentionally opaque.

    Jurors can communicate with the court through notes that ask the judge, for instance, for legal guidance or to have particular excerpts of testimony read back to them.

    But without knowing what jurors are saying to each other, it’s hard to read too much into the meaning of any note.

    ANOTHER FAMOUS FACE AT THE COURTHOUSE

    Donald Trump will not be the only big name appearing before a judge in lower Manhattan on Wednesday — fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to appear for a hearing related to the retrial of his landmark #MeToo-era rape case.

    The hearing will take place in the same courthouse where Trump is currently on trial and where Weinstein was originally convicted in 2020.

    Weinstein’s conviction was overturned in April after the court found that the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case. His retrial is slated for sometime after Labor Day.

    A MOTION THAT STILL HASN’T BEEN DECIDED

    The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial might have one last piece of business to address on Wednesday before jurors receive instructions and can begin deliberations.

    Last Monday, defense lawyers filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the case, arguing that prosecutors had failed to prove their case and there was no evidence of falsified business records or an intent to defraud.

    Prosecutors rebutted that assertion, saying “the trial evidence overwhelmingly supports each element” of the alleged offenses, and the case should proceed to the jury.

    Judge Juan M. Merchan did not indicate at the time when he would issue a decision on the request. More than a week later, it remains unclear whether he will address it before the case goes to the jury.

    WHAT MUST BE PROVED FOR A CONVICTION?

    Jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial are expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday after receiving instructions from the judge on the law that governs the case and what they can consider as they strive toward a verdict in the first criminal case against a former U.S. president.

    The panel has a weighty task ahead of them — deciding whether to convict or acquit Trump of some, all or none of the 34 felony counts he’s charged with.

    But what had to be proved for a conviction?

    To convict Trump of felony falsifying business records, prosecutors had to convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that he not only falsified or caused business records to be entered falsely but also did so with intent to commit or conceal another crime. Any verdict must be unanimous.

    To prevent a conviction, the defense needed to convince at least one juror that prosecutors didn’t prove Trump’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard for criminal cases.

    If the jury deadlocks after several days of deliberations and are unable to reach a unanimous verdict, the judge may declare a mistrial.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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  • Does Robert De Niro Consume Weed

    Does Robert De Niro Consume Weed

    Part of the original cool club – he broke the mold. Tough, determined, and busy – does De Niro ever chill with weed?

    He has been the tough guy who matured into the grumpy old man persona which movie watchers seem to connect.  A storied career, he has won numerous awards, become an icon, lobbied for causes and not been afraid of a fight.  But does Robert De Niro consume weed and just chill?  Does he even have time?

    RELATED: How To Come Down From A Marijuana High Quickly

    Born in 1943, his last part was in Nada in 2023 at 80, but has the political thriller mini series Zero Day coming soon from Netflix.  He had a creative partnership Martin Scorsese which helped define his legacy. His first Scorsese ht was  Mean Streets where he played “Johnny Boy” Civello, a small time criminal working his way up into a local mob, he threw himself into the role. Then he lost himself in the role of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.Working with Francis Ford Coppola he become Vito Corleone in the Godfather II, cementing him as a strong mean in the public’s eye. The intensity of what he brought to the role is legendary.  Luckily, marijuana has helped.

    Sometimes it is used to chill, sometimes it comes from a darker place. De Niro fell for weed after a couple of bong hits while filming Jackie Brown, it delayed filming as the actor and the bong were close for a couple of days. Maybe it is his consuming habit which let this humor and wit come out in movies like Meet the Parents.

    In the medical field, De Niro battled prostate cancer and resumed his career. Cannabis has been a benefit for cancer patients helping them manage treatment symptoms and the chronic pain.

    RELATED: The Most Popular Marijuana Flavors

    De Niro has made a fortune in his career playing tough guys, some with a heart.  In 2006,  De Niro received Italian citizenship.  The Sons of Italy opposed the movie based on the believe the actor damaged the public image of Italians by portraying criminals.

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  • Robert De Niro Calls Trump a “Coward,” a “Buffoon,” and a “Tyrant” Who “Absolutely” Belongs in Jail

    Robert De Niro Calls Trump a “Coward,” a “Buffoon,” and a “Tyrant” Who “Absolutely” Belongs in Jail

    Robert De Niro appeared at a Biden-Harris campaign event on Tuesday, during which he gave a long speech about the upcoming election. But the actor’s remarks were less about the current president and more about Donald Trump, who, according to De Niro, is a toxic mix of coward, clown, and Mob-boss-esque tyrant who must be stopped at all costs.

    Speaking outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse, where closing arguments in the hush money criminal trial against Trump took place, De Niro told reporters Trump “doesn’t belong in my city,” which used to “tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot.” Noting that “this city is pretty accommodating,” and “make[s] room for clowns,” De Niro stressed that, quite obviously, that is no longer the case.

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    Trump, the actor said, “wants to destroy not only the city, but the country…and eventually he could destroy the world.” Turning to the attack on the Capitol that the then president incited on January 6, 2021, De Niro highlighted Trump’s unending appetite for violence and then said something that the former guy will undoubtedly be ranting about on Truth Social for days and weeks to come. “It’s a coward’s violence,” De Niro told reporters. “You think Trump ever threw a punch himself, or took one? This guy who ran and hid in the White House bunker when there were protesters outside? No way. He doesn’t get blood on his hands, no he doesn’t, he directs the Mob to do his dirty work for him by making a ‘suggestion,’ an inference, and his gang grovels and follows his obvious order.”

    De Niro added that “it’s no surprise the murder rate and other violent crimes peaked under Trump and are falling under Biden, and now he’s promising to use our own military to attack US citizens. That’s the tyrant, that’s the tyrant he’s telling us he’ll be…. When Trump ran in 2016 it was like a joke, this buffoon running for president…. We’d forgotten the lessons of history that showed us other clowns who weren’t taken seriously until they became vicious dictators…. This is the time to stop it by voting him out once and for all. We don’t want to wake up after the election saying, ‘What, again? My God, what the hell have we done?’”

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    Later, in a series of unscripted remarks, De Niro said of Trump’s legal situation, “The fact is, whether he’s acquitted, whether it’s hung jury, whatever it is, he is guilty—and we all know it. I’ve never seen a guy get out of so many things, and we all know this. Everybody in the world knows this.” Asked if he thought the ex-president should be in jail, De Niro responded, “I sure do. Absolutely.”

    Naturally, none of this went over well with Team Trump, with a senior adviser to the campaign telling the Times, “The Biden folks have finally done it. After months of saying that politics had nothing to do with this trial, they showed up and made it with a campaign event.”

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  • Robert De Niro shows up to troll Donald Trump outside hush-money trial – National | Globalnews.ca

    Robert De Niro shows up to troll Donald Trump outside hush-money trial – National | Globalnews.ca

    President Joe Biden’s campaign on Tuesday showed up outside former President Donald Trump’s New York City criminal hush money trial with actor Robert De Niro and a pair of former police officers in an effort to refocus the presidential race on the former president’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection.

    It was a sharp about-face for Biden’s team, which had largely ignored the trial since it began six weeks ago and is now looking to capitalize on its drama-filled closing moments, sending the Goodfellas actor and the first responders who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

    Biden’s campaign had been wary about feeding into Trump’s argument that his criminal trials were the result of politically motivated prosecutions, but ultimately it decided to engage because its message about the stakes of the election was struggling to break through the intense focus on the trial.

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    Actor Robert De Niro, center, arrives for a news conference outside Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Former US President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign.

    Yuki Iwamura / Bloomberg via Getty Images

    A top Biden adviser said they weren’t there to talk about the trial — and De Niro and the officers didn’t reference the sordid criminal case directly — rather to exploit the large media focus on the legal proceedings. But Trump advisers argued in a dueling press conference that the Biden team’s presence validated the Republican former president’s claims that his prosecutions are being driven by politics.

    “We’re not here today because of what’s going on over there,” Biden campaign communication director Michael Tyler told reporters, gesturing toward the courthouse. “We’re here today because you all are here.”


    Click to play video: 'Closing arguments delivered in Trump’s historic hush money trial'


    Closing arguments delivered in Trump’s historic hush money trial


    The back-to-back press conferences were a side show to the main event playing out inside the courthouse, where closing arguments were under way in the only Trump trial likely to surface before the November election. There are two others directly related to the Republican’s efforts to undo his 2020 loss to Biden, a Democrat: A federal case in Washington is related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and a state case in Georgia accuses him of election interference. He has pleaded not guilty in those cases.

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    Click to play video: 'Trump hush money trial: Prosecution rests, judge admonishes defence witness'


    Trump hush money trial: Prosecution rests, judge admonishes defence witness




    The Biden campaign last week released a new ad that was narrated by De Niro sharply criticizing Trump’s presidency and plans if he’s reelected.


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    “I don’t mean to scare you. No, wait, maybe I do mean to scare you,” De Niro told reporters. “If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted.”

    The actor cast himself as the true New Yorker and mocked Trump’s history of sometimes-unsuccessful business ventures and self-promotion, saying Trump was looking to “destroy” the city.

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    “We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another crappy real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot,” De Niro said. “I love this city. I don’t want to destroy it. Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city but the country, and, eventually, he could destroy the world.”

    Former Washington, D.C., police officer Michael Fanone and former Capitol police officer Harry Dunn spoke of their personal experiences on Jan. 6, with Fanone describing his injuries suffered at the hands of the mob of Trump supporters seeking to halt Congress’ certification of Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.

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    “I came here today to remind Americans of what Donald Trump is capable of and the violence that he unleashed on all of Americans on Jan. 6, 2021,” Fanone said.

    The two former officers were also witnesses during a congressional investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Hundreds of law enforcement officers were beaten and bloodied in the attack by Trump supporters, who descended after a rally and smashed into the Capitol while Trump remained silent for hours.

    “Americans need to wake up. This is not a drill,” said Harry Dunn, a former Capitol police officer who ran unsuccessfully for office in Maryland.


    Actor Robert De Niro, left, points to a supporter of former US President Donald Trump during a news conference outside Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Former US President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign.

    Yuki Iwamura / Bloomberg via Getty Images

    “We can’t count on these institutions to stop Donald Trump,” he added. “It’s going to take us Americans at the ballot box to defeat him once and for all.”

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    Trump’s campaign staffers held their own news conference at the same spot outside the courthouse to respond to De Niro, the Jan. 6 officers and the Biden campaign.

    Trump’s senior campaign adviser, Jason Miller, called De Niro — who won Oscars for his roles in The Godfather: Part II and Raging Bull — “a washed-up actor” and said the Biden news conference proved Trump’s arguments that the trial, like the others the former president is facing, was motivated by politics.

    “After months of saying politics had nothing to do with this trial, they showed up and made a campaign event out of a lower Manhattan trial day for President Trump,” Miller said.

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    Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, called the Biden campaign “desperate and failing” and “pathetic” and said its event outside the trial was “a full-blown concession that this trial is a witch hunt that comes from the top.”


    Click to play video: 'Robert De Niro apologizes to Canadians for Trump’s ‘idiotic behaviour’'


    Robert De Niro apologizes to Canadians for Trump’s ‘idiotic behaviour’




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  • Roger Corman, Giant of Independent Filmmaking, Dies at 98

    Roger Corman, Giant of Independent Filmmaking, Dies at 98

    Roger Corman, the fabled “King of the B’s” producer and director who churned out low-budget genre films with breakneck speed and provided career boosts to young, untested talents like Jack Nicholson, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Gale Anne Hurd and James Cameron, has died. He was 98.

    The filmmaker, who received an honorary Oscar in 2009 at the Governors Awards, died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, his family told The Hollywood Reporter.

    “He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” they said in a statement. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”

    Corman perhaps is best known for such horror fare as The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) and his series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations starring Vincent Price, but he became celebrated for drugs-and-biker sagas like The Wild Angels (1966), which was invited to the Venice Film Festival as the Premiere Presentation.

    He also achieved notoriety for producing The Trip (1967), which starred Peter Fonda as a man on an LSD-inspired odyssey. Its controversy delighted Corman, who was one of the first producers to recognize the power of negative publicity.

    His blend of sex, nudity, violence and social themes was taken seriously in many quarters, especially in Europe and among film school professors, and in 1964 he was the first American producer-director to be honored at the Cinematheque Francaisee with a retrospective of his movies.

    Others considered his work so embarrassingly awful that it deserved lasting notoriety. Take Bloody Mama (1970), for instance; sure, it was a gangster saga about Ma Barker and her thug sons, but the cast included Shelley Winters, Robert De Niro and Bruce Dern.

    There are two divergent schools of thought on Corman’s career: 1) That he recognized and nurtured talent or 2) that he exploited youthful talent and never used it to go beyond the rudiments of pushing out quickie product.

    Nicholson, then 21, made his big-screen debut in Corman’s The Cry Baby Killer (1958). Corman hired a young Scorsese to direct Boxcar Bertha (1972) and Demme to write Caged Heat (1974). He made new college graduate Hurd his production assistant and later his marketing chief and handed Cameron the job of designing props for Battle Beyond the Stars (1980).

    The giant of independent filmmaking also gave Howard a chance to direct his first feature, Grand Theft Auto (1977). When the former child actor complained about the producer’s refusal to pay for more extras, Corman famously said, “Ron, if you do a good job for me on this picture, you’ll never have to work for me again.”

    All are proud members of “The Roger Corman School of Filmmaking.”

    Roger William Corman was born in Detroit on April 5, 1926, but his family — including his late younger brother Gene Corman, who went on to become an agent and produce several movies with him — moved to Beverly Hills when he was 14.

    He attended Beverly Hills High School and graduated from Stanford University in 1947 with a degree in industrial engineering, which he said fostered the type of thinking needed in low-budget production.

    He served in the U.S. Navy for nearly three years but found when he was discharged that he had lost his taste for engineering. He took a job at 20th Century Fox as a messenger and worked his way up to story analyst.

    Frustrated with that position, he quit and set off for England. He attended Oxford, doing graduate work in English literature. Ultimately, he went on to Paris, where he sold freelance material to magazines. When he returned to the U.S., he worked as a literary agent. Inspired by the utter awfulness of the scripts he read, he decided to try his hand at writing.

    “I said to myself that this looked like an easy way to make a buck, so I sat down and spent a lot of nights doing a script called Highway Dragnet,” he once recalled. He sold the script to Allied Artists for $4,000, and it was made into a movie starring Joan Bennett and Richard Conte.

    His early movie days were spent in an association with Samuel P. Arkoff’s American International Pictures, which put out cheap genre pictures. Working with Arkoff and his philosophy of dispensing product geared to drive-in audiences instilled in Corman the virtues of telling stories visually and working quickly. He cranked out eight movies in 1956 alone, and from 1955-60, he’s credited with producing or directing more than 30 AIP movies. All were on budgets of less than $100,000, and most were completed in less than two weeks.

    He delighted in making genre films, beginning with Westerns: Five Guns West (1955) was his first directing credit, and he followed with Apache Woman (1955) and The Oklahoma Woman (1956). He switched to science fiction and horror, blasting out such gobbled fare as Day The World Ended (1956), It Conquered the World (1956), The Undead (1957), Night of the Blood Beast (1958) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958). Amid the bloodletting, hokey costumes and bizarre plots were bursts of cheeky humor and campy signs of intelligent life, reflecting Corman’s breezy, comic sensibility.

    Ever inventive and calculating, Corman learned how to cash in on topical issues: After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, he came up with the idea of War of the Satellites (1958). He capitalized on the rock ’n’ roll rebellion of the time, producing such teen pics as Rock All Night, Teenage Doll and Carnival Rock, all released in 1957.

    No matter how disparaging the reviews, his movies turned a profit. (His autobiography, How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime, was first published in 1990.)

    Somewhat to his amusement, he also knocked out a critical success with AIP’s Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), which starred Charles Bronson in the title role of the maniacal mobster. On the strength of that film, Fox hired him to do I, Mobster, which was released a few months later.

    Not deterred by the ignominy of not being associated with a major studio, the maestro at inexpensive moviemaking continued to serve up lethal does of humor and horror, including A Bucket of Blood (1959) and Little Shop of Horrors, a spoof of horror films that Corman intentionally shot in two days to break a production record. His other work included such schlockers as Creature From the Haunted Sea (1960), Battle of Blood Island (1960) and Last Woman on Earth (1960).

    He became bored once he had mastered a genre, relentlessly switching forms. This led to production problems at times, which Corman solved with good-natured dispatch. For one particularly troubled project, a story that had somehow switched from sci-fi to horror and endured the loss of sets, he was left with a hodgepodge of footage that didn’t make sense or have any consistency.

    But Corman salvaged the film: He had young actor Nicholson grab a character, throw him against a hall, shake him by the neck and, with his most deranged look, scream, “What the hell is going on here?” The actor then dispensed exposition that somehow tied all the conflicting plots, sets and characters together, and the story moved on to a quick, economical ending.

    Corman followed up with heap blood-spillers directed by young novices, including: Dementia 13 (1963), directed by Corman assistant Coppola, who wrote in a Hitchcock-style, ax-murder scene; the violent Targets (1968), helmed by Bogdanovich, who had earned his Corman spurs by scouting locations for The Wild Angels; Death Race 2000 (1975), directed by Paul Bartel, which careened along the black-humor road and featured no-name Sylvester Stallone as the arch-villain, Machine Gun Joe Viterbo; and Rock ’n’ Roll High School (1979), directed by Allan Arkush, starring Bartel as a snide music teacher at Vince Lombardi High School, which the kids blow up in a Poe-style, flaming frenzy.

    Ever restless, Corman ventured into weightier territory, producing The Intruder (1962), a hard look at racial prejudice. It was his first “message” film, and he financed it himself when the major distributors balked at the subject. The story centered on a hatemongering racist (William Shatner) who organized violent opposition to court-ordered school desegregation. It used the N-word in a realistic, non-gratuitous manner, but the film was denied the Production Code’s seal and screened in only a few movie houses in the country.

    Although it received commendations from such critics as The Hollywood Reporter‘s Arthur Knight and The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther, it was to be Corman’s first money-losing film. He vowed never again to make a movie with “so obviously a personal statement.”

    He went on to sign a deal with Columbia Pictures in the mid-1960s but grew dissatisfied with its low-budget assignments and returned to AIP to do The Wild Angels. Made on a reported budget of $360,000, it grossed more than $25 million.

    After Bloody Mama, he withdrew from directing in 1970 to form New World Pictures, a production and distribution company geared to low-budget, campy movies aimed at young audiences. Despite industry ridicule, his formulaic send-ups made money, among them Women in Cages (1971), The Velvet Vampire (1971) and Night Call Nurses (1972).

    Corman had certain aesthetic rules and qualitative guidelines, which he delivered with his characteristic insouciance: “In science fiction films, the monster should be always be bigger than the leading lady.” He pioneered such cinematic staples as the girls’ shower scene, usually the second scene in a Corman teen film. He insisted his directors practice proper professionalism: namely, always have the girls lather up their arms and stomachs so as not to obscure the integrity of the breast shots.

    Surprising to some, but consistent with his restless nature, Corman switched gears: He sought out sophisticated foreign films. Through New World, he began to distribute overseas films that the majors were too timid, or too weighted down by marketing wisdom, to distribute. He used his cheeky, mass marketing sensibility to release Bergman’s Cries and Whispers (1972), Fellini’s Amarcord (1974), Truffaut’s The Story of Adele H. (1975), Kurosawa’s Dersu Uzala (1975) and Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo (1982).

    These films enjoyed regular runs in Los Angeles at the Nuart Theater, not far from Corman’s home; long lines of film students and movie buffs convened to see such fare in the 1970s.

    In the early ’80s, he sold off New World, which came to be run by former Academy president Robert Rehme. Corman then formed Concorde Films and New Horizons Films and produced a number of low-budget movies with his wife, Julie, whom he married in 1970.

    He had a producing credit on more than 400 projects, with more recent efforts including Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader (2012) and the 2014 TV movie Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda.

    His graduates have affectionately cast him in cameo roles, including Coppola in The Godfather: Part II (1974) and Demme in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993) and Rachel Getting Married (2008).

    In March 2015, Corman and his wife filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court saying they lost up to $60 million when their money was mismanaged by an investment fund. They later said that damages ran as high as $170 million.

    In addition to his wife, survivors include their children, Catherine and Mary.

    In his Oscar acceptance speech, Corman applauded those in the world who take risks.

    “Many of my friends and compatriots and people who’ve started with me are here tonight, and they’ve all succeeded,” he said. “Some of them succeeded to an extraordinary degree. And I believe they’ve succeeded because they had the courage to take chances, to gamble. But they gambled because they knew the odds were with them; they knew they had the ability to create what they wanted to make.

    “It’s very easy for a major studio or somebody else to repeat their successes, to spend vast amounts of money on remakes, on special effects-driven tentpole franchise films. But I believe the finest films being done today are done by the original, innovative filmmakers who have the courage to take a chance and to gamble. So I say to you, ‘Keep gambling, keep taking chances.’”

    Hilary Lewis

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  • Here Are All the 2024 Oscar Winners

    Here Are All the 2024 Oscar Winners

    Poor Things
    Image: Searchlight

    After enduring the pandemic and a pair of industry-stopping strikes, Hollywood seemed extra jazzed about celebrating itself at this year’s Oscars. While there weren’t a ton of genre movies on the ballot—truly, last year’s Everything Everywhere All at Once sweep still feels rather validating—a few did find their way to the podium.

    What Should Fans Take Away from Imaginary?

    Most notably it was Poor Things leading the charge for genre, including a Best Lead Actress win for Emma Stone for her portrayal of Bella Baxter—arguably only rivalled by Oppenheimer, which took home the trio of big wins in Best Lead Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. Barbie, amid a sea of discourse after nominees were initially announced earlier this year about perceived snubs, home only one win for original song out of its slate of nominations. Here are all the winners (plus their fellow nominees) from the 2024 Academy Awards. And may we just say, if Best Visual Effects winner Godzilla Minus One does get a sequel, we hope it makes it into more categories than its Best Picture-worthy predecessor.

    Best Supporting Actor

    • Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)
    • Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    • Winner: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
    • Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
    • Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

    Best Supporting Actress

    • Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
    • Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
    • America Ferrera (Barbie)
    • Jodie Foster (Nyad)
    • Winner: Da’vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

    Best Animated Feature Film

    • Winner: The Boy and the Heron
    • Elemental
    • Nimona
    • Robot Dreams
    • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

    Best Animated Short Film

    • “Letter to a Pig”
    • “Ninety-Five Senses”
    • “Our Uniform”
    • “Pachyderme”
    • Winner: “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko”

    Best Costume Design

    • Barbie (Jacqueline Durran)
    • Killers of the Flower Moon (Jacqueline West)
    • Napoleon (David Crossman & Janty Yates)
    • Oppenheimer (Ellen Mirojnick)
    • Winner: Poor Things (Holly Waddington)

    Best Live-Action Short

    • “The After”
    • “Invincible”
    • “Knight of Fortune”
    • “Red, White and Blue”
    • Winner: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”

    Best Makeup and Hairstyling

    • Golda
    • Maestro
    • Oppenheimer
    • Winner: Poor Things
    • Society of the Snow

    Best Original Score

    • American Fiction (Laura Karpman)
    • Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (John Williams)
    • Killers of the Flower Moon (Robbie Robertson)
    • Winner: Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson)
    • Poor Things (Jerskin Fendrix)

    Best Sound

    • The Creator
    • Maestro
    • Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
    • Oppenheimer
    • Winner: The Zone of Interest

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    • Winner: American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
    • Barbie (Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig)
    • Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
    • Poor Things (Tony McNamara)
    • The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)

    Best Original Screenplay

    • Winner: Anatomy of a Fall (Arthur Harari & Justine Triet)
    • The Holdovers (David Hemingson)
    • Maestro (Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer)
    • May December (Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik)
    • Past Lives (Celine Song)

    Best Cinematography

    • El Conde (Edward Lachman)
    • Killers of the Flower Moon (Rodrigo Prieto)
    • Maestro (Matthew Libatique)
    • Winner: Oppenheimer (Hoyte van Hoytema)
    • Poor Things (Robbie Ryan)

    Best Documentary Feature Film

    • Bobi Wine: The People’s President
    • The Eternal Memory
    • Four Daughters
    • To Kill a Tiger
    • Winner: 20 Days in Mariupol

    Best Documentary Short Film

    • The ABCs of Book Banning
    • The Barber of Little Rock
    • Island in Between
    • Winner: The Last Repair Shop
    • Nai Nai & Wài Pó

    Best Film Editing

    • Anatomy of a Fall
    • The Holdovers
    • Killers of the Flower Moon
    • Winner: Oppenheimer
    • Poor Things

    Best International Feature Film

    • Io Capitano
    • Perfect Days
    • Society of the Snow
    • The Teacher’s Lounge
    • Winner: The Zone of Interest

    Best Original Song

    • “The Fire Inside” (Flamin’ Hot)
    • “I’m Just Ken” (Barbie)
    • “It Never Went Away” (American Symphony)
    • “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    • Winner: “What Was I Made For” (Barbie)

    Best Production Design

    • Barbie
    • Killers of the Flower Moon
    • Napoleon
    • Oppenheimer
    • Winner: Poor Things

    Best Visual Effects

    • The Creator
    • Winner: Godzilla Minus One
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    • Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One
    • Napoleon

    Best Lead Actor

    • Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
    • Colman Domingo (Rustin)
    • Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
    • Winner: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
    • Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

    Best Lead Actress

    • Annette Bening (Nyad)
    • Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    • Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
    • Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
    • Emma Stone (Poor Things)

    Best Director

    • Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
    • Martin Scorcese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    • Winner: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
    • Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
    • Johanathan Glazer (Zone of Interest)

    Best Picture

    • American Fiction
    • Anatomy of a Fall
    • Barbie
    • The Holdovers
    • Killers of the Flower Moon
    • Maestro
    • Winner: Oppenheimer
    • Past Lives
    • Poor Things
    • The Zone of Interest

    What did you think of this year’s winners? Any favorite moments from the ceremony? Share in the comments below!

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Cheryl Eddy

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  • Richard Romanus, Actor in ‘Mean Streets,’ Dies at 80

    Richard Romanus, Actor in ‘Mean Streets,’ Dies at 80

    Richard Romanus, the tough-guy character actor best known for his turn as Michael Longo, the Little Italy loan shark who gets into it with Robert De Niro’s Johnny Civello in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, has died. He was 80.

    Romanus died Dec. 23 in a private hospital in Volos, Greece, his son, Robert Romanus, told The Hollywood Reporter.

    Romanus handled prominent voice roles for Ralph Bakshi in 1977’s Wizards (as the elf warrior Weehawk) and 1982’s Hey Good Lookin’ (as the leader of a 1950s greaser gang), and in between, he played the cab driver Harry Canyon in another animated film, Heavy Metal (1981).

    He also appeared on four episodes of The Sopranos as Richard LaPenna, the on-again, off-again husband of Lorraine Bracco’s Jennifer Melfi, from 1999-2002.

    In Mean Streets (1973), Romanus’ character is famously disrespected by Johnny when he leans on him for his money.

    “You know, Michael, you make me laugh,” Civello says. “You see, I borrow money all over this neighborhood, left and right from everybody, and I never pay them back. So, I can’t borrow no money from nobody no more, right? So who would that leave me to borrow money from but you?

    “I borrow money from you, because you’re the only jerk-off around here who I can borrow money from without payin’ back, right? You know, ’cause that’s what you are, that’s what I think of you, a jerk-off. You’re smiling ’cause you’re a jerk-off. You’re a fucking jerk-off! I’ll tell you something else, I fuck you right where you breathe, because I don’t give two shits about you or nobody else.”

    Michael, of course, will get his revenge on the road to Brooklyn.

    The son of a dentist, Richard Joseph Romanus was born on Feb. 8, 1943, in Barre, Vermont, and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1964 with a degree in philosophy and spent a year in law school before studying acting with Lee Strasberg at Carnegie Hall.

    In 1970, he appeared on episodes of Mission: Impossible and The Mod Squad and in the David Janssen-starring telefilm Night Chase before he was hired on Mean Streets.

    His iconic scene with De Niro came on the next-to-last day of shooting, Scorsese recalled in Andy Dougan’s 2011 book, Untouchable: Robert De Niro.

    “Something had happened between Bobby and Richard because the animosity between them in that scene is real, and I played on it,” the director said. “They had gotten on each other’s nerves to the point where I think they really wanted to kill each other. I kept shooting take after take of Bobby yelling all these insults while the crew was getting very upset.”

    Romanus said De Niro actually got angry when he saw him laugh during the tirade. “By laughing I was saving face. He thought I should be fuming, but he had no control over my reactions,” he said. “Sometimes the reaction you get from your acting partner is not the one you want. Then you simply have to react off that. But in this scene I laughed organically. I thought Bobby was very funny when he was doing that stuff. And he looked ridiculous.”

    Romanus spent the rest of the decade showing up on such shows as Rhoda, Kojak, Starsky & Hutch, The Rockford Files and Hawaii Five-O and in the film Russian Roulette (1975).

    In 1981-82, he landed a regular role as Det. Lt. Charlie Gunzer on the ultra-violent ABC crime show Strike Force, starring Robert Stack and produced by Aaron Spelling, but the series was canceled after 20 episodes.

    From left: Michael Goodwin, Robert Stack, Dorian Harewood, Trisha Noble and Richard Romanus from the 1981-82 series Strike Force.

    Robert Phillips / Everett Collection

    He played another cop on another short-lived ABC series, Foul Play, in 1981.

    Romanus’ résumé included the films Sitting Ducks (1980), Protocol (1984), The Couch Trip (1988), Oscar (1991), Point of No Return (1993), Cops and Robbersons (1994), Nailed (2001) and The Young Black Stallion (2003) and TV work on Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, MacGyver, Cagney & Lacey and NYPD Blue.

    In addition to his son, survivors include his second wife, Oscar-nominated costume designer Anthea Sylbert (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, Julia), whom he married in August 1985, and younger brother Robert Romanus, who played Mike Damone in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

    Twenty-three years ago, Romanus and Sylbert moved to the Greek town of Skiathos, and he wrote about the experience in Act III: A Small Island in the Aegean, published in 2011. Plus, he authored two novels set in the country, 2011’s Chrysalis and 2014’s Matoula’s Echo.

    The couple, who were declared honorary citizens of Skiathos in 2021, also wrote and produced two Lifetime telefilms, 1998’s Giving Up the Ghost and 1999’s If You Believe (the latter got them a WGA nomination).

    Romanus’ first wife was actress-singer Tina Bohlmann. They were married from 1967 until their 1975 divorce.

    Mike Barnes

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