DUBAI: Robert De Niro’s publicist has shut down a rumor that a video clip widely shared online shows the 80-year-old actor confronting pro-Palestinian protesters in New York.
The 34-second clip has been shared on social media with the caption: “Robert De Niro stands with Israel!”
But publicist Stan Rosenfield told CNN that the Hollywood veteran was actually rehearsing a scene for his upcoming series in which he plays a former president.
“What you saw was a direct scene from the Netflix series ‘Zero Day,’ with Robert De Niro reading lines as written in the script,” he said.
The video was shot on the streets of New York on Saturday and in the clip, De Niro’s character was confronting a crowd of people, he said.
“Someone copied the post and fabricated an entirely different and bogus meaning,” he said.
Netflix supported the story, according to a report by Just Jared.
In the clip, De Niro yells at the crowd: “This is not a movie! This is not a movie! Move behind the barricade. You like talkin’ nonsense? Then you gotta go home!
“That’s dangerous and they say they’re gonna do it again! Again! You don’t want that. You don’t want that. None of us want that. C’mon. Let’s all get serious.”
The footage was shared by various pro-Israel accounts on social media with some claiming the words “They say they’re gonna do it again” were a reference to the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
