Robert de Niro sharing heartfelt moments on celebrating her daughter Giathe first birthday of.
Speaking with ET’s Rachel Smith alongside producer Jane Rosenthal about the upcoming Tribeca Film FestivalDe Niro expressed the happiness Gia brings into his life.
“Yes, she did. She ate a cupcake, it was very good, sweet,” De Niro confirmed when asked about Gia’s first birthday and her first cake. Reflecting on his youngest daughter, he added: “Well, she’s pure joy, there’s nothing about her, there’s no judgment, there’s nothing, she’s just which it is and it’s just pure joy for God’s sake.”
De Niro, who turns 81 this summer, isn’t letting age slow him down. He emphasized his commitment to staying active, saying, “I mean, I try to stay active in everything and yeah, what else am I going to do?” When the idea of retiring to take up golf was suggested, De Niro humorously rejected it, saying he was not good at golf and would rather stick to acting.
In May, De Niro and his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, welcomed Gia, their first child together and their seventh. The happy couple’s little girl made her television debut in July on CBS Mornings.
De Niro’s large family also includes his adult children Drena, 52, and Raphael, 47, with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott; 28-year-old twins Aaron and Julian with former girlfriend Toukie Smith; and son Elliot, 25, and daughter Helen, 12, with ex-wife Grace Hightower.
Gia’s celebration took place amid preparations for the 2024 Tribeca Festival, scheduled for June 5-16 in New York. This year’s festival, co-founded by De Niro, Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2002, will open with a documentary about Diane Von Furstenberg.
Additionally, De Niro will be honored with De Niro Con during the festival’s final weekend, showcasing more than 300 items from his illustrious career and offering fans unique activations.
Reflecting on the festival’s legacy, De Niro and Rosenthal admitted they didn’t expect it to last more than two decades. “I mean, I only thought we were doing it once just to bring people back downtown, but I didn’t know we’d be signing multi-year deals with a lot of our sponsors at the time. Anyway either, here we are,” Rosenthal said.
She added: “We were created because of the act of terrorism in our city and in our country and we took the voices of artists, our voices, passionate voices and showed different points of view from all over the world that we have given to so many emerging and diverse voices.
In October, De Niro said The Guardian that raising a child “does not get easier”, but his partner makes it easier.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” De Niro said of being a parent. “They surprise you.”
“It is what it is. It’s all good. I mean, I’m not doing the heavy lifting,” De Niro admitted. “I’m here, I’m supporting my girlfriend. But she’s doing the work. And we have help, it’s so important.”
The two-time Oscar winner admitted he still loves fatherhood.
“Of course I do…(I appreciate) all of that!” he noted. “With a baby, it’s different with my 11-year-old. My adult children. My grandchildren. Everything is different.”
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