Former Assistant: Robert De Niro Gave Me ‘Female Duties Like Housework’

Robert De Niro’s ex-assistant has filed a counter-lawsuit against the actor following his company’s $6 million August suit alleging in part that the former employee watched 55 episodes of Friends over four days while on the job. Graham Chase Robinson, who was once De Niro’s assistant, but eventually became vice president of production and finance at his production studio, alleges in her lawsuit that the A-list actor treated her as his “office wife,” giving her “female duties like housework” despite her upward movement inside the company. Robinson says De Niro asked her to scratch his back, button his shirts, wake him in his hotel room, do his laundry, and vacuum, while paying her less than her male counterpart. The lawsuit also alleges that the actor called her names while intoxicated including “bitch” and “brat.”