Robert De Niro’s girlfriend accused his longtime assistant of being in love with him, as legal drama heats up

The 'bitter feud' between Tiffany Chen, the mother of De Niro's new baby, and a woman who described herself as his 'office wife' has fueled dueling lawsuits.

Just two months after Robert De Niro made headlines when he become a father for the seventh time at age 79, the veteran actor has found himself at the center of another story centered on his personal life.

Unfortunately, this new story isn’t very pleasant. It’s an update on the messy and protracted legal battle that’s focused on the acrimonious departure of De Niro’s former longtime assistant after she ran afoul of his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, according to a report in the Puck newsletter.

At one point, Chen, the mother of De Niro’s new baby, Gia, speculated that the assistant, Graham Chase Robinson, was in love with the “Raging Bull” actor, Puck writer Eriq Gardner reported, citing a recent 158-page summary judgment ruling. Chen regarded Robinson “as a territorial figure who didn’t play nice with others,” court fillings show.

Chen also told another employee at De Niro’s Canal Productions that Robinson took actions against her that were “very ‘single white female,'” a reference to the 1992 movie thriller about an obsessive roommate.

This bitter feud between Chen and Robinson forms the backdrop of dueling lawsuits filed by De Niro and his production company, on one hand, and Robinson, on the other, according to Puck and Vanity Fair. The dispute is expected to come to a head with a trial in October, Gardner reported.

In the $6 million lawsuit De Niro filed in state court in 2019, he accused Robinson of abusing company credit cards and stealing 5 million frequent-flier miles. The lawsuit also alleges she binge-watched “Friends,” “Arrested Development” and “Schitt’s Creek” while on the clock.

Robinson responded the same year with a lawsuit filed in federal court. It alleges gender discrimination, saying she was treated as an “office wife,” Vanity Fair reported.

“Robert De Niro is someone who has clung to old mores,” Robinson’s claim read. “He does not accept the idea that men should treat women as equals. He does not care that gender discrimination in the workplace violates the law.”

The suit also alleges that De Niro expected unwelcome physical contact with Robinson, saying the Oscar winner would “direct Ms. Robinson to scratch his back, button his shirts, fix his collars, tie his ties and prod him awake when he was in bed.”

Before Robinson left De Niro’s employ, she enjoyed the lofty title of vice president of production and finance at Canal Productions. But her duties mostly involved being “at De Niro’s beck and call,” Gardner reported, “running errands at all hours of the day.” In 2018, she decided to embark on the next chapter of her life, but De Niro managed to convince her to stay by bumping her salary to $300,000 — which satisfied her annoyance of being paid less than De Niro’s personal trainer, Gardner said.

De Niro apparently wanted Robinson to stick around because he was in the midst of a tumultuous divorce from second wife Grace Hightower, Gardner reported. He “also and clearly valued her work and stability,” Gardner also said.

But De Niro’s views of Robinson apparently changed after Chen came into the picture, Gardner reported. Chen didn’t like Robinson being involved in operations around De Niro’s “lavish townhouse,” especially after she accused Robinson of disconnecting all the chargers on her side of the bed, leading to the “single white female” comment.

Robinson soon found herself stripped of responsibilities at De Niro’s residence, Gardner reported. For Robinson, this was “the final straw” and she immediately resigned. When De Niro told Chen that they just need to work out severance for Robinson, she responded that the money should be used instead “for the therapy everyone needs … as a result of her.”

Tensions continued to escalate, as De Niro’s company launched an internal investigation into Robinson’s activities at the firm, while she kept pushing De Niro and his attorneys for a severance package and for a letter of recommendation, Gardner reported.

When De Niro got word that Robinson was hiring a lawyer to possibly take legal action, Gardner reported that Chen texted De Niro: “She thought she was your wife. I saw it from the beginning. I told you.” The actor texted back: “The balls, the nerve, the chutzpah, the sense of entitlement: how dare her!”

The dueling lawsuits filed by De Niro and Robinson have been winding their way through the courts for the past four years, with disputes about jurisdiction and which side has “actually brought triable legal clams,” Gardner reported.

It a May 25 ruling, a U.S. District court judge ruled that Robinson can present evidence of gender discrimination at the upcoming trial, while De Niro can present his counterclaims involving her personal use of corporate credit and transfer of frequent-flier miles.

One intriguing argument that Robinson’s attorney could present has to do with Chen’s belief about her — that she was in love with De Niro, Gardner said. The judge wrote that this belief was motivated by gender, which could have led to Robinson’s worsening treatment at the company due to her status “as a single female.”