RAGING BILL$
Robert De Zero: Ex-wife is working me to death for money
Robert De Niro’s divorce lawyer says he’s sick of constantly working to pay for estranged wife Grace Hightower’s “thirst for Stella McCartney.”
When does he get the opportunity to not . . . work six-day weeks, 12-hour days so he can keep pace with Ms. Hightower’s thirst for Stella McCartney?
“Aging Bull” Robert De Niro is being worked to death to keep up with his estranged wife’s extravagant lifestyle — including her “thirst for Stella McCartney,” his lawyer claimed on Friday.
The elderly acting legend is already a tax delinquent yet again — with the paychecks from his next two movies slated to offset his latest multimillion-dollar bill to Uncle Sam, according to his divorce lawyer, Caroline Krauss.
“Mr. De Niro is 77 years old, and while he loves his craft, he should not be forced to work at this prodigious pace because he has to,” Krauss told a Manhattan judge during a virtual divorce hearing for the actor’s split with Grace Hightower.
“When does that stop? When does he get the opportunity to not take every project that comes along and not work six-day weeks, 12hour days so he can keep pace with Ms. Hightower’s thirst for Stella McCartney?” Krauss added, referring to the celebrity fashion designer.
“He could get sick tomorrow, and the party’s over.”
The “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas” star phoned into the proceeding, while Hightower appeared by video link.
The hearing came as the pair (pictured in 2015) continues to squabble over how much money De Niro should have to pay to Hightower until the terms of their 2004 prenup agreement kick in, presumably after their divorce is finalized.
Hightower’s lawyer, Kevin McDonough, argued that since filing for divorce in 2018, De Niro has unfairly continued to cut the amount of money he has been sending his estranged spouse.
For example, “The Godfather Part II’’ star slashed his contribution to her creditcard expenses, going from $375,000 a month to $100,000 monthly as recently as January, the lawyer said.
But Krauss claimed that in the years leading up to the former A-list couple’s separation, Hightower was spending more and more.
In just 2019, she spent $1.67 million — including buying a diamond worth $1.2 million from jeweler Kwiat, the lawyer said.
Krauss said that De Niro is behind by millions of dollars on his taxes and that the money from his next two movie projects will go toward paying off those liabilities.
De Niro was previously clobbered with a $6.4 million tax lien in 2015.
De Niro doesn’t want Hightower and their two kids to have to move out of their Manhattan apartment as per the prenup, which calls for the former couple to sell the $20 million pad, split the profits and then have him buy a new $6 million home for the trio, Krauss said.
But “if the choice is selling the apartment and following the agreement or paying pursuant to Ms. Hightower’s demands — which are rich with indulgence and waste and greed — then we would go with the former,” Krauss said.
But McDonough balked at Krauss’ claims that De Niro is struggling financially.
“If he wants to direct or compel his family to leave their longtime home while he’s spending millions and millions and millions on himself, on his own homes, on renovating what his lawyers tongue-and-cheek call his cottage in Montauk, which he has poured millions and millions into over the past couple of years, he can take that position,” McDonough claimed.
“There have been no cutbacks and no slowdowns in Mr. De Niro’s lifestyle whatsoever,” McDonough said.
“When Mr. De Niro goes to brunch Sunday in Connecticut, he charters a helicopter up there. When he flies down to see his friends in Florida or wherever else, it’s a private jet.”
Krauss denied the claim that De Niro took a helicopter to brunch, while McDonough scoffed at the accusation that his client spent $1.2 million on a diamond.