Robert De Niro alleged on the 2023 Gotham Awards stage Monday evening that lines critical of former President Trump and Hollywood’s mistreatment of Native Americans had been edited out of the speech he had prepared.
De Niro was presenting the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award to Martin Scorsese’s historical crime drama “Killers of the Flower Moon” when the actor appeared to be struggling to read the teleprompter.
Before handing out the award, De Niro went off script and said, “The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out — I didn’t know about it — and I want to read it.” Members of the audience at Cipriani Wall Street in New York cheered the Oscar winner on as he whipped out his phone and began scrolling to find his original speech.
“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.” De Niro then referenced changes to Florida’s school curriculum in which students are taught that enslaved African Americans had “developed skills” which could be used “for their personal benefit.”
“The entertainment industry isn’t immune to this festering disease,” he continued. “The Duke, John Wayne, famously said of Native Americans, ‘I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them … There were great numbers of people who needed new land and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.’”
De Niro then took particular aim at Trump, referencing a Washington Post fact check that found the former president had lied more than 30,000 times during his four years in office. “And he’s keeping up the pace in his current campaign of retribution,” the actor added. “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.”
The “Godfather II” actor then blasted the awards show and Apple Studios, which produced “Killers of the Flower Moon,” for the edited speech: “So I’m going to say these things — to Apple and thank them, all that. Gothams. Blah blah blah. Apple. But I don’t really feel like thanking them at all for what they did. How dare they do that, actually.”
Representatives for the Gotham Film & Media Institute and Apple did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment.
De Niro has been known for his fiery rhetoric against Trump. Last month, De Niro told the Guardian, “It upsets me so much that somebody like him could get so far in our political system.” This past May at the Cannes Film Festival, De Niro likened the villain he plays in “Killers of the Flower Moon” to the former president.
In “Killers of the Flower Moon,” De Niro plays William Hale, a cattle rancher who was among white settlers who murdered and defrauded Osage people for their land and oil rights. Despite having white filmmaker Scorsese at the helm, the film has been praised for its authentic depiction of Indigenous life. The production consulted with members of the Osage Nation and cast several of their leaders in acting roles. At the movie’s end, Scorsese also acknowledges his and Hollywood’s role in exploiting Native Americans throughout its history.
Lily Gladstone, who is of Siksikaitsitapi and Nimiipuu heritage, starred in the film as Mollie Kyle. Along with the historical icon tribute, Gladstone won the lead performance award for her role in “The Unknown Country.” In each of her speeches, Gladstone praised the filmmakers for prioritizing Native perspectives.
“I challenge everybody in this room who makes films: Invest. When you have a budget, invest it in the people,” she said, joining De Niro onstage alongside other Native actors from “Killers of the Flower Moon.” “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.”