Robert De Niro Says ‘F— Trump’ on Tony Awards Stage, Gets Standing Ovation

Actor introduced performance by special Tony winner Bruce Springsteen

Robert De Niro Tony Awards 2018
Getty

Robert De Niro kept the CBS censors busy Sunday night, dropping F-bombs in an anti-Trump outburst late during the 72nd Annual Tony Awards.

“I’m gonna say one thing, ‘F— Trump!’” the actor shouted after walking on the stage of Radio City Music Hall to introduce a performance by special Tony winner Bruce Springsteen.

De Niro then pumped both fists beside his head — eliciting a standing ovation from many in the audience.

“It’s no longer ‘Down With Trump,’ it’s ‘F— Trump,’” the actor and sometime director then said, to more cheers by the Broadway community gathered for the annual awards ceremony. Again, the CBS censors managed to bleep the phrase to keep it from the airing in the U.S.

“Mr. De Niro’s comments were unscripted and unexpected,” CBS said in a statement after the show’s conclusion. “The offensive language was deleted from the broadcast.”

De Niro has long been a critic of President Donald Trump’s administration.

While introducing Best Actress winner Meryl Streep at the National Board of Review awards gala in January, De Niro used his time at the podium as a way to get a few more F-bomb-laden jabs in at the man he called “our baby-in-chief.”

The two-time Oscar winner also referred to the president as “the jerkoff-in-chief” who “has put the press under siege.”

De Niro’s outburst was one of several political moments during the 72nd Annual Tony Awards.

The evening’s first winner, “Angels in America” star Andrew Garfield slammed the U.S. Supreme Court for its recent decision in favor of the Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

“We are all sacred and we all belong,” said Garfield, who won for his performance as AIDS patient Prior Walter in a hit revival of Tony Kushner’s epic play.

“So let’s just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked,” the actor said.

Comments