Robert De Niro is a dad once again! The 79-year-old About My Father actor revealed in an interview for the new movie that he recently welcomed his seventh child, telling ET Canada, “I just had a baby” and corrected the interviewer who asked about his six kids: “Seven, actually,” he said. He did not give any other details, such as who the child’s mother is, though De Niro’s representative did confirm the baby’s arrival.
The new baby joins De Niro’s six other kids, who include: Drena, 51, and Raphael, 46 — whom he shares with his first wife, Diahnne Abbott — his 27-year-old twin sons Aaron and Julian — whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend Toukie Smith — and Elliot, 25, and Helen, 11 — from his marriage to his ex-wife Grace Hightower. De Niro and Hightower filed for divorce in 2018 after more than 20 years together.
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During his recent interview for About My Father, De Niro shared some rare insight into his life as a dad and his parenting style. “I mean, there’s no way around it with kids. I don’t like to have to lay down the law and stuff like that. But [sometimes] you just have no choice,” he told ET Canada. “And any parent, I think, would say the same thing.” He added, “You always want to do the right thing by the children and give them the benefit of the doubt but sometimes you can’t.”
He also said he doesn’t consider himself a “cool dad,” despite his co-star Sebastian Maniscalco, who stars as his son in the movie, calling him a cool dad. “I’m OK,” he said. “You know, my kids disagree with me at times, and they’re respectful. But my daughter, she’s 11, she gives me grief sometimes and I argue with her. I adore her, but, you know. And my youngest now, that’ll be more to come. But, that’s what it is.”
De Niro opened up about his split from Hightower in 2018, telling Us Weekly in a statement that they were entering “a period of transition” and calling Hightower a wonderful mother. “Grace and I have two beautiful children together,” he said. “We are entering a period of transition in our relationship, which is a difficult but constructive process. I honor Grace as a wonderful mother and ask for privacy and respect from all as we proceed to develop our roles as partners in parenting.”
