Current:Home > NewsRobert De Niro Speaks Out After Welcoming Baby No. 7 -MacroWatch
Robert De Niro Speaks Out After Welcoming Baby No. 7
View
Date:2025-04-11 12:53:48
Robert De Niro might be a pro at parenting, but he knows it's not the easiest job.
While attending the New York premiere of his new movie—aptly titled About My Father—the 79-year-old, who recently welcomed his seventh child, offered his advice on parenthood.
"Sometimes, I don't think people really know what being a good father is," he told Access Hollywood on May 9. "Well, you know you have a responsibility but look, it's a mystery, it's a lot of excitement."
"But it's scary," he noted, "and you do your best."
In addition to his newborn, the Oscar winner is also dad to Drena, 51, and Raphael, 46—who he shares with ex Diahnne Abbott—and has 27-year-old twin sons Aaron and Julian with ex Toukie Smith.
He also co-parents son Elliot, 25, and daughter Helen, 11, with his ex-wife Grace Hightower, who he split from in 2018 after over 20 years together.
De Niro first announced the arrival of his seventh child in a recent interview with ET Canada, telling the outlet, "I just had a baby."
And although the Meet the Fockers actor has yet to publicly share the name of the newborn's mother, the private star did discuss his life as a dad during his recent sit-down.
"You know, my kids disagree with me at times, and they're respectful," he said. "My daughter, she's 11, she gives me grief sometimes and I argue with her. I adore her, but, you know. And my youngest now, that'll be more to come. But, that's what it is."
To see a complete look at De Niro's family tree, keep reading!
Robert De Niro met his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, while making Taxi Driver, in which Diahnne had a bit part as the ticket taker at a porn theater Travis Bickle patronizes in the gritty 1976 classic and they tied the knot April 28, 1976.
He adopted Diahnne's daughter Drena, now 52, when they got married.
Their son Raphael was born Nov. 9, 1976. He later recalled the family moving from Los Angeles (where his dad was born) to New York (the city his dad is most associated with) when he was about 10, telling The Real Deal it was a major "culture shock."
The actors divorced in 1988.
Drena, whose first Instagram post is a black-and-white snap of her as a child out to dinner with her parents and then-couple Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston ("at this point all I wonder is WTF was I doing there ???"), has remained in show business as an actor and producer.
Growing up, "it definitely wasn't the typical family lifestyle," she told Everything Zoomer, "but there was a lot of warmth, fun, craziness." She described her father as "a non-judgmental, open-minded person, always accepting of what people feel their paths are."
Raphael went into real estate, which also runs in the family. Per his website, he leads The De Niro Team at Douglas Elliman in Manhattan, and he's a partner in TriBeCa's Greenwich Hotel.
The 46-year-old shares three kids with ex-wife Claudine de Matos and has been married to stylist Hannah Carnes since March 2020.
Acknowledging his last name alone turned him into fodder for tabloid coverage, Raphael told The Real Deal, "I just try to keep my head down and keep my private life private."
Drena is mom to Leandro De Niro Rodriguez with artist ex Carlos Rodriguez.
Leandro, born in 2003, ventured into the family business and appeared with Drena in 2018's A Star Is Born.
In July 2023, Drena announced Leandro passed away at the age of 19 after a suspected overdose. An arrest has since been made in connection with his death.
The actor and model Touki Smith are parents to twin sons Julian and Aaron, born Oct. 20, 1995.
Robert and Touki split up in 1996 after about eight years together.
While Aaron leads a private life, Julian is an actor who most recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony-nominated The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. In 2022 he played a young Barack Obama in the Showtime limited series The First Lady.
"For my kids, I tell them, 'If you want to be an actor or you want to do this or that, that's fine as long as you're happy. Just don't sell yourself short,'" the Meet the Parents star told People in January 2020. "That's the most I would say—push yourself a little more and reach for what you really think it is you want to do. Don't be afraid."
He also shares son Elliot, born March 18, 1998, and daughter Helen Grace, born via surrogate in December 2011, with Grace Hightower.
They married in 1997 and the actor filed for divorce barely two years later, but they reconciled before the split was official and renewed their vows in 2004.
They again began divorce proceedings in 2018.
When promoting Silver Linings Playbook, in which he played a father of an adult son with bipolar disorder, he opened up about having a child with special needs, telling Katie Couric in 2013, "I don't like to get emotional, but I know exactly what [my character] goes through." In 2016 he shared that Elliott has autism.
The actor's seventh child was born April 6, 2023.
CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King got to do the name-reveal honors on her show May 11. "How cute is this baby?" she said about the photo of the 1-month-old. "Robert De Niro and his partner, that's Tiffany Chen, are over the moon about this little girl."
The 79-year-old first told ET Canada that he'd become a father for the seventh time.
"My kids disagree with me at times, and they're respectful," he shared when asked if his children considered him a cool dad. "My daughter [Helen], she's 11, she gives me grief sometimes and I argue with her. I adore her, but, you know. And my youngest now, that'll be more to come. But that's what it is."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (719)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Proponents Say Storing Captured Carbon Underground Is Safe, But States Are Transferring Long-Term Liability for Such Projects to the Public
- How the Fed got so powerful
- Cue the Fireworks, Kate Spade’s 4th of July Deals Are 75% Off
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- Proponents Say Storing Captured Carbon Underground Is Safe, But States Are Transferring Long-Term Liability for Such Projects to the Public
- Amid a child labor crisis, U.S. state governments are loosening regulations
- Lack of Loggers Is Hobbling Arizona Forest-Thinning Projects That Could Have Slowed This Year’s Devastating Wildfires
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- In an Attempt to Wrestle Away Land for Game Hunters, Tanzanian Government Fires on Maasai Farmers, Killing Two
Ranking
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- From the Middle East to East Baltimore, a Johns Hopkins Professor Works to Make the City More Climate-Resilient
- Great Scott! 30 Secrets About Back to the Future Revealed
- The US May Have Scored a Climate Victory in Congress, but It Will Be in the Hot Seat With Other Major Emitters at UN Climate Talks
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Cue the Fireworks, Kate Spade’s 4th of July Deals Are 75% Off
- 25 Cooling Products for People Who Are Always Hot
- Finding Out These Celebrities Used to Date Will Set Off Fireworks in Your Brain
Recommendation
California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Every Time Margot Robbie Channeled Barbie IRL
What has been driving inflation? Economists' thinking may have changed
In ‘Silent Spring,’ Rachel Carson Described a Fictional, Bucolic Hamlet, Much Like Her Hometown. Now, There’s a Plastics Plant Under Construction 30 Miles Away
Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
Elon Musk threatens to reassign @NPR on Twitter to 'another company'
Blast Off With These Secrets About Apollo 13
Scientists Are Pursuing Flood-Resistant Crops, Thanks to Climate-Induced Heavy Rains and Other Extreme Weather