Robert De Niro claims his speech was censored by the Gotham Awards and Apple: ‘How dare they do that’
By Marianne Garvey, CNN
(CNN) — Robert De Niro alleges a speech he prepared to deliver at the Gotham Awards in New York City on Monday night was censored by the event’s organizers and Apple.
De Niro spoke as part of the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute for the Martin Scorsese-directed film, “Killers of the Flower Moon” in which the actor stars. Apple TV+ is the film’s distributor.
CNN has reached out to Apple’s film division and the Gotham Awards for comment.
The Oscar-winning actor and frequent Scorsese collaborator appeared frustrated while at the podium as he read from a teleprompter. After a short video played, he claimed the first part of his speech had been removed.
“The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out and I didn’t know about it. And I want to read it,” De Niro, prompting cheers from the room.
He then pulled up his remarks on his phone and read aloud to the audience.
“History isn’t history anymore,” he said. “Truth is not truth. Even facts are being replaced by alternative facts and driven by conspiracy theories and ugliness. In Florida, young students are taught that slaves developed skills which can be applied for their personal benefit.”
De Niro was referencing new Florida education standards for the state’s Black history curriculum that sparked controversy when introduced earlier this year.
De Niro continued, “The entertainment industry isn’t immune to this festering disease. The Duke, John Wayne, famously said of Native Americans, ‘I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them.’”
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is a crime drama set in 1920s Oklahoma during which Osage Nation members were murdered after oil was discovered on tribal land and White opportunists sought control of their mineral rights.
Without mentioning him by name, De Niro called out former President Donald Trump.
“Lying has become just another tool in the charlatan’s arsenal. The former president lied to us more than 30,000 times during his four years in office, and he’s keeping up the pace in his current campaign of retribution. But with all his lies, he can’t hide his soul. He attacks the weak, destroys the gifts of nature, and shows disrespect, for example, by using ‘Pocahontas’ as a slur,” referring to Trump calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren by the Native American woman’s name.
He closed his remarks by taking aim at the Gotham Awards and Apple.
“This is where I came in and I saw that they edited all that,” De Niro said as he read his prepared remarks, adding he had intended to thank organizers and the studio. “But I don’t really feel like thanking them at all for what they did. How dare they do that, actually.”
De Niro’s remarks follow Jon Stewart’s show, “The Problem with Jon Stewart,” on Apple TV+ coming to an end over disagreement between the host and the company about the subject matter of three episodes planned for a third season. Those topics included China, Israel and artificial intelligence, CNN reported last month.
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