UPDATED, 4:27 PM: A calmer Robert De Niro, facing friendlier questioning from one of his lawyers Tuesday, testified that he would give his departing personal assistant a job recommendation when she left but not the draft letter she submitted for him to sign after she abruptly quit in 2019 despite an earlier deal to stay on longer. “I said, ‘There’s no way I can sign that now,’” De Niro said on the stand during Day 2 a civil trial in New York City pitting him against ex-employee Graham Chase Robinson, who has accused her former boss of gender discrimination, wage theft and retaliatory behavior.
Jurors in the Manhattan federal courtroom also is weighing De Niro’s counterclaim that Robinson misused a company credit card for personal expenses and absconded with more than 5 million frequent-flier miles.
The draft of a recommendation letter for graduate school, written as if in De Niro’s voice, made “preposterous” claims about the work Robinson did in her 11 years at De Niro’s business and personal services company Canal, the actor testified in his last turn on the stand before he was excused as a witness and left the courtroom.
Earlier in the day De Niro shouted, “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!” while disputing accusations of sketchy behavior toward her.
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