FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT WASHINGTON Robert De Niro first met Grace Hightower at Mr. Chow, a luxurious Chinese restaurant in Knightsbridge, London. It was 1987. Bob had already won two Academy Awards. Grace worked as a waitress. She had also lived in Paris, where she had arrived as a flight attendant, after leaving Kilmicheal, a dot of 700 inhabitants dispersed in Mississippi.
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That first cross between shrimp and chicken in Satay sauce apparently produced no results. Of course De Niro could not have imagined that 33 years later that waitress would sue him in court, to claim the reinstatement of your credit card up to $ 100,000.
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At the time, however, he returned to New York, where his wife Dianne Abbott and his two sons Raphael (now 44 years old) and Drena (now 48 years old) were waiting for him.
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The story of “Bob and Grace” is a long journey marked by curves and surprises. De Niro divorced Dianne in 1988 and immediately afterwards began a relationship with the actor Toukie Smith, from whom he had the twins Julian Henry and Aaron Kendrick, now twenty-four years old. But it lasted until 1995. The Italian-American star had never forgotten Grace. He looks for her, marries her in 1997 in Marbletown, New York State. Only eleven guests, including colleagues and inseparable friends Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel. The couple have a first child, Elliot, in 1998. But the following year Robert filed for divorce. A furious legal battle for custody begins between the two. Rags fly in court. Grace accuses her partner of treason and being an addict. Bob replies that it was impossible to live with her. But, surprisingly, in 2004 the two get back together. And they remarry. In 2011 the second daughter, Helen, arrived with a surrogate motherhood. All right, finally? No, the balance is still broken two years ago. This time, politics also seems to be involved. Grace is an ultra Trumpian. De Niro, on the other hand, would like to “split the face” of the president. And so here we are on Friday 10 July 2020.
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Lawyers at 65-year-old Hightower sue 76-year-old world movie star for “treacherously” halved the credit card ceiling available to the ex-wife. The trial in court appeared surreal, given the universal difficulties of the moment. But anyway. The actor connected via Skype: “I’m dry, this virus has ruined me.” His lawyer Caroline Krauss developed the concept, enumerating the losses suffered by his client’s businesses: the Nobu restaurant, the Greenwich Hotel, in Tribeca. “Bob” had to ask $ 500,000 loaned to remunerate investor members. And Covid-19 has long blocked the distribution of The Irishman, the star’s latest film, with Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, directed by Martin Scorsese. Conclusion of the lawyer: “It will be a lot if my client earns 7.5 million dollars this year.” Judge Matthew Cooper showed only partial understanding. He determined that Grace can easily survive even with $ 50,000 a month paid on the American Express by her ex-husband. On the other hand, Bob will have to shell out $ 70,000 to pay her the summer vacation.
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July 11, 2020 (change July 11, 2020 | 11:59 pm)
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