Who censored Robert De Niro?
The Killers of the Flower Moon actor prepared to slam Donald Trump at the Gotham Awards on Monday, but when he took the stage he discovered that his planned speech had been changed at the behest of Apple, the film’s producer. The company was responding to feedback from the film’s production team, who wanted the actor’s remarks to be central to the film, according to a source.
The actor said he had not been informed of the changes, which removed any mention of the former president. De Niro, who was on hand to present “Killers of the Flower Moon” with the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute, criticised the awards show and Apple. “I don’t feel like thanking them at all for what they did,” he said. “How dare they do that.”
A revised version of the speech was fed into the teleprompter less than ten minutes before the event began, according to sources with knowledge of the show. A woman who told the teleprompter operator to upload a new speech was overheard identifying herself as an Apple employee. At 6.54pm, the teleprompter company received an email from two Apple employees with the new text, which omitted explicit references to Trump. Instead, it referred to De Niro saying that “watching the news today” made it clear that “we do indeed live in a post-truth society”. Variety has reviewed a copy of the email. The Gothams, an annual celebration of film and television, had nothing to do with cutting the “Killers of the Flower Moon” star’s remarks, according to insiders. A spokesman for De Niro said the actor had not seen the changes.
A source close to the film denied there was any censorship involved and said the incident was a miscommunication. There had been several versions of De Niro’s speech and there was a desire to focus solely on the filmmakers and their artistry, the source said. Apple and the filmmakers were unaware that De Niro hadn’t signed off on the final draft, the insider added.
De Niro did get a chance to air his grievances, reading his remarks from his phone. “Lying has become just another tool in the charlatan’s arsenal,” De Niro said. “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 for all his lies, he can’t hide his soul. He attacks the weak, destroys the gifts of nature and shows disrespect by using ‘Pocahontas’ as a slur.
Spokespeople for the Gotham Awards and Apple declined to comment.
