Summary
- Robert De Niro was upset when he discovered alterations to his prepared speech, originally focused on his disdain for former President Donald Trump.
- There is a dispute over whether Apple producers censored De Niro or if it was a miscommunication, with multiple versions of the speech existing.
- De Niro expressed disappointment with the situation and Apple during his speech, but still managed to make his remarks about former President Trump.
On Monday night at the 2023 Gotham Awards, when accepting the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute Award, the Killers of the Flower Moon actor Robert De Niro became upset after discovering alterations to his prepared speech.
The original speech was allegedly centered on De Niro’s disdain for former President Donald Trump. According to an inside source, before the 80-year-old actor took the stage, film producers at Apple were allegedly concerned with the subject matter and wanted his speech to focus on the movie. A representative for De Niro stated that no one from Apple or the producer’s team notified the actor before the changes (via Variety).
Based on a true crime novel by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon follows an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone), and her husband Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) living in 1920s Oklahoma, who investigate mysterious murders in the Osage Nation after the discovery of an oil field. John Lithgow, Jesse Plemons, and Brendan Fraser also star in the film.
Another source has denied that the producers at Apple censored De Niro in any way and that it was “miscommunication.” There were allegedly multiple versions of the speech that focused only on the film and creative process. The source also stated that they were unaware De Niro had not approved the edited version.
A source close to the production team of Gotham Awards provided a timeline of the incident. The edited speech was delivered to the teleprompter, allegedly by a woman who claimed to be an Apple employee, around ten minutes before De Niro was set to accept the award. An email, reviewed by Variety, was allegedly sent to the teleprompter company to exclude any political references.
During his speech, De Niro expressed disappointment with the whole situation and Apple.
I don’t feel like thanking them at all for what they did. How dare they do that, actually.
Eventually, the actor got to make his original remarks about former President 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.
Members of the press in attendance were taken aback by De Niro’s comments, and many took to social media to express their confusion.
Related: Best Robert De Niro Movies, Ranked
What Else Happened at the 2023 Gotham Awards?
A24
As for the rest of the night, De Niro’s co-star, Gladstone, took home Best Lead Performance for Morrisa Maltz’s The Unknown Country over Greta Lee (Past Lives) and Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla). During her speech, Gladstone praised her fellow nominations and filmmakers who highlight the Native American experience
I challenge everybody in this room who makes films: Invest. When you have a budget, invest it in the people. Invest in the people that you’re telling your story about. Your film will be better for it. Your lives will be better for it.
May December’s Charles Melton won Supporting Actor over Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) and Rachel McAdams (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret).
The night’s top award, Best Feature, was given to Celine Song’s Past Lives, starring Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, and Choi Won-young.
Killers of the Flower Moon is set to stream exclusively on Apple TV+.
You can view the original article HERE.
