Featured Image Credit: Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/WireImage via Getty Images / @voiceofairyn/Instagram
Topics: Robert De Niro, Parenting, Transgender, Celebrity
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Robert De Niro, Parenting, Transgender, Celebrity
Robert De Niro has shared a key rule he follows when it comes to parenting his seven kids.
De Niro's children drastically range in ages, with his eldest child being 57 while his youngest daughter Gia is just two-years-old.
In recent weeks his daughter Airyn, came out transgender. In an emotional interview, the 29-year-old told Them magazine that debuting her new feminine look 'felt right'.
"I feel like I’m meant to be doing this," she added.
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Going on to note a media article about her which referred to her as De Niro's son and as a 'nepo baby', Airyn said: "Not only did they get information wrong about me… They just sort of reminded me that people really don’t know anything about me."
It was such an article with threw Airyn into the spotlight unexpectedly after having previously had a largely private life.
She said of this: "I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight. They wanted it very private. They have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible."
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Airyn admitted that she was nervous about how her loved ones would react to her transition, but her famous father has made his support for her clear.
"I love and support Airyn as my daughter. I don't know what the big deal is. I love all my children," he said of his daughter's new chapter.
Now, De Niro has shared more details on his parenting technique.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the father-of-seven said: "The main thing is to support your kids. As long as they’re not hurting themselves, doing anything destructive or anything like that, you have to support them — period."
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The Irishman star continued: "They have to know that you support them. Always."
De Niro also made some rare remarks about his two-year-old daughter Gia, whom he shares with girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 46.
"She’s just pure joy," he said of his youngest child. "She’s two now, so as they get older and older then… you know? But it’s always wonderful. Pure joy, what can I say?"
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Reportedly Chen and De Niro met on the set of the actor's 2015 movie The Intern, which he starred in alongside Anne Hathaway.
Then in 2021 the pair were pictured on vacation in France together and sharing a kiss, seemingly confirming their romance.
Fast forward to 2023 and they quietly welcomed daughter Gia, De Niro's seventh child.