The weight and stress of his looming custody and divorce struggles are beginning to weigh on him as Robert De Niro was spotted having a very heated and public meltdown with his driver on Thursday.
According to Page Six, the actor had just exited the courthouse after an hours-long session when he proceeded to become frantic and angry as he searched for his driver.
Whipping out his cell phone, Robert gave his driver a call and began angrily screaming at him while photographers swarmed around and attempted to take photographs.
“You are not outfront!” The Hollywood legend reportedly yelled angrily into his Black LG flip phone.
“You’re not where you dropped us off!”
Some bystanders also reportedly heard the actor dropping the f-bomb at his driver on the phone.
Robert was accompanied by his lawyer at the time as they stood near the courthouse during his angry outburst.
The irate Goodfellows actor attempted to hide his face with a newspaper while continuing to berate his employee over the phone.
Surrounded by merciless photographers, the actor shouted, “On Worth Street! Then you’d see all the photographers here!”
Trying to come up with a quick solution, De Niro’s lawyer suggested the duo should go back into the building and wait for the driver to arrive.
“This is ridiculous,” The Oscar award winner said loudly as he made his way to the back of the building.
By this point, the large swarm of photographers was accompanied by a large crowd of fans and passersby who scrambled into purses and coat pockets looking for their phones so they too could take pictures and record videos of the public meltdown.
Robert De Niro has public meltdown after divorce court https://t.co/oSvELU4TVi pic.twitter.com/UaWDVDJjPa
— Page Six (@PageSix) February 7, 2019
Page Six reported that one fan shouted, “Take it Easy Bobby!” in response to the actor’s angry outburst.
Unfortunately, we can’t speculate on whether De Niro was truly mad at his driver or if something didn’t go his way during the court proceedings that day.
We do know that the actor and his estranged wife of 20 years, Grace Hightower, were in the courtroom for more than five hours that day as lawyers from both sides negotiated terms on the custody of the couple’s 7-year-old child, Helen.
According to the Sun Sentinel , the court proceedings were so loud there was a point in time where the Judge’s comments could clearly be heard by everyone in the area.
Grace Hightower wants Robert De Niro divorce to be public, a source says https://t.co/wwnpoLX66q pic.twitter.com/OvkUn8Tzet
— Page Six (@PageSix) February 5, 2019
Judge Matthew Cooper complimented both sides and stated that a great deal of progress had been made.
“There have been compromises made. Both sides have given in on certain things. Both sides have not fully received all they want but we’ve reached a compromise that is in your daughter’s best interests. Today has been a good day. Not just for the parties but for your daughter.”
According to New York Daily News , one of their own approached De Niro’s driver, asking him if he were happy to still have a job. The outlet says that the driver stared blankly before rolling up the window.