NIRO FIGHTS LITTLE GIRL, 7!
Custody war as divorce turns ugly
MOVIE icon Robert De Niro’s divorce from Grace Hightower has exploded into an ugly downand-dirty custody war over their seven-year-old daughter, Helen, that has the Raging Bull begging a judge to let him see his little girl.
GLOBE has learned when the Oscar-winning star anonymously filed for divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court on Dec. 13, he also pleaded for a judge to grant him visitation.
Sources describe De Niro’s estranged wife Grace, 63, as a control freak who ran her marriage with an iron fist. They claim she now is punishing De Niro for divorcing her a second time by limiting his access to the surrogate-born girl.
The Godfather star, 75, tried to keep things amicable when he announced the split on Nov. 27, saying they were going through a “difficult” time and working to “develop our roles as partners in parenting.”
But a former maid, who worked for the famous family, describes Grace as a self-involved person who was “hard” to live with. The maid insists Grace’s difficult ways finally drove her husband to end their stormy marriage.
“She is a very hard person,” the ex-employee says. “She does not know how to run a house. She has no notion of family. And she has no notion of what kind of man De Niro is.
“He’s a good father to his children. She’s not the same.”
The former housekeeper claims Grace “did not attend to” the couple’s 20-year-old autistic son, Elliot — and would expect the actor to take care of him “even if he was at work.”
De Niro hung on to the marriage for more than two decades.
The A-list pair wed in June 1997 and Grace gave birth to Elliot a year later. But within one year of being new parents De Niro filed for divorce and a custody battle followed for Elliot well into 2001.
Then in 2004, the on-again, off-again couple decided to stick it out and renewed their vows.
Now, Grace’s attempt to control the Casino star’s visitation during the divorce comes as no surprise because she used the same iron fist in every part of his life during their marriage, notes the source.
“She busted his b***s and controlled his finances and film production company, and had all kinds of rules he couldn’t live by,” an insider snitches. “Grace micromanaged him to death and he deserves a medal for sticking it out so long.”
However, insiders insist Grace was blindsided by the bust-up — and is refusing to dish.