EXCLUSIVE: Prickly Robert de Niro refuses to speak about Gotham Awards ceremony eruption, after he accused organizers of deleting anti-Trump rant from his teleprompter speech

Robert De Niro refused to talk when asked about his awards ceremony, accusing organizers of censoring an anti-Trump rant from his speech.

The actor, 80, played coy when contacted by DailyMail.com to comment on the outburst at the Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday night.

De Niro was left fuming after claiming part of his speech was edited out because it contained a number of barbs about the former president.

The Taxi Driver star went on to recite the section in full and then blamed Apple, the Awards organizer, for removing the speech.

But on Tuesday, De Niro told DailyMail.com: “No, no, I don’t want to comment,” when asked about the incident.

The 80-year-old got into a row at Gotham Awards and Apple for allegedly removing part of his speech from the teleprompter because it contained jokes about Donald Trump

De Niro has been vocal in his criticism of the former president and was seen holding a copy of the book Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party the day after the awards ceremony incident.

De Niro was seen later on Tuesday returning to his mansion with his book on Tuesday evening

Earlier in the day, the award-winning actor deflected questions as he got into a car waiting outside his home

The Hollywood actor was spotted leaving his New York apartment with a copy of John Karl’s ‘Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party’ in his hand.

Wearing a black beanie and face mask, a visibly irritated De Niro repeatedly refused to talk about the incident and used a bag to hide his face as he left his Upper East Side townhouse.

He then ordered a DailyMail.com reporter to “open the door” of his chauffeured black Cadillac Escalade before getting in and slamming it behind him.

De Niro has been open in his criticism of the former president and has stepped up his criticism in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Last month, he sent a statement that could be read in his absence at the Stop Trump Summit, organized by The New Republic magazine.

He was at the glitzy awards ceremony to give a speech iA tribute to his critically acclaimed Western crime epic Killers Of The Flower Moon, directed by his long-time friend and collaborator Martin Scorsese.

De Niro was on hand to accept the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award on behalf of the film, appearing at the event with his co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone.

But at one point the veteran actor stumbled during the speech before explaining his confusion.

Out of his element: Robert De Niro, 80, fudged his lines and looked confused after part of his anti-Trump speech was reportedly edited out without his knowledge at the 2023 Gotham Awards on Monday

“I just want to say one thing,” De Niro said. “The beginning of my speech was edited and excised, and I knew nothing about it. And I want to read it before I start the speech

“The beginning of my speech was edited and excised, and I knew nothing about it. And I want to read it,” he said.

‘History is no longer history. Truth is not truth. Even facts are being replaced by alternative facts and driven by conspiracy theories and ugliness,” he said, expanding on his earlier comments.

“In Florida, young students are taught that slaves learn skills that can be applied to their personal benefit,” De Niro continued. “The entertainment industry is not immune to this festering disease.

He also referenced a racist statement from a 1971 Playboy interview with John Wayne.

‘The Duke, John Wayne, famously said of the Indians: ‘I do not feel that we have done anything wrong in taking this great country from them. There were large numbers of people who needed new land and the Indians selfishly tried to keep it for themselves.”

‘Lying has simply become a tool in the charlatan’s arsenal. The former president lied to us more than 30,000 times during his four years in office.

“And he’s keeping up the pace in his current campaign of retaliation. But despite all his lies, he cannot hide his soul,” De Niro continued.

“He attacks the weak, destroys nature’s gifts and shows disrespect by using Pocahontas as a slur, for example.”

The Hollywood actor attended the event with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen and the couple was spotted together

De Niro paid tribute to his new film Killers Of The Flower Moon (pictured) and accepted the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute Award on his behalf

He concluded by slamming the Gotham Awards and Apple, the film’s producer, for apparently censoring his comments.

Instead of ending with a typical expression of thanks, he said, “I I actually don’t feel like thanking them at all for what they did.

‘How dare they actually do that? But now I’m going to accept the prize.’

The speech earned him rapturous applause and some awkward laughter from the audience.

His appearance at the event comes just weeks after he was ordered to pay $1.2 million in damages to his former assistant as part of a gender discrimination lawsuit.

Although the jury found that De Niro was not personally liable for the abuse, it said his company, Canal Productions, engaged in gender discrimination and retaliation against former assistant Graham Chase Robinson and had to make two payments of $632,142 to her.

De Niro has been embroiled in lawsuits with Robinson since her dismissal in April 2019.

Both he and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen took the stand during the weeklong trial.

The couple both attended last night’s awards and recently announced they had welcomed a child together – De Niro’s seventh.