Robert De Niro denied top broadcast award following his anti-Trump speech outside court, report says

• Robert De Niro will not be honored at the National Association of Broadcasters ceremony, a report said.
• The film star called Trump a "clown" outside the former president's criminal trial in New York City.
• De Niro's recent "high-profile activities will create a distraction," said a NAB statement.

Robert De Niro will no longer be honored at the National Association of Broadcasters award ceremony after making a slew of anti-Trump comments outside the former president's criminal trial, said a report.

The Oscar-winning actor was set to receive the NAB's top individual honor, the Leadership Foundation's Service to America Award, next Tuesday in Washington, DC.

In a statement to The Hill, a spokesperson for the group said, "While we strongly support the right of every American to exercise free speech and participate in civic engagement, it is clear that Mr. De Niro's recent high-profile activities will create a distraction from the philanthropic work that we were hoping to recognize," the statement said, per The Hill.

"To maintain the focus on service of the award winners, Mr. De Niro will no longer be attending the event."

In a statement to the Hill in response to the NAB's decision to rescind the award, De Niro said, "I support the work of the NAB Leadership Foundation and would like to express my appreciation and gratitude for what the Foundation has done and will continue to do for the good of us all, and I wish them well for their continued good work," it said.

De Niro has been feuding with Trump for 13 years, according to a report by Business Insider's Ayomikun Adekaiyero.

The two New Yorkers first came to verbal blows Trump after questioned the citizenship status of then-president, Barack Obama.

Outside the courthouse on Tuesday, De Niro said he had joined the Biden campaign because it was the only way to "preserve our freedoms."

"If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted."

De Niro, who recently voiced an ad for the Biden campaign, called Donald Trump a "clown," adding that "we've forgotten the lessons of history that showed us other clowns who weren't taken seriously until they became vicious dictators."

"With Trump, we have a second chance, and no one is laughing now. This is the time to stop him by voting him out once and for all."

"If he gets in, I can tell you right now, he will never leave," said De Niro.

Trump responded to De Niro's comments on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.

"I never knew how small, both mentally and physically, Wacko Former Actor Robert De Niro was," the former president wrote.

"Today, De Niro, who suffers from an incurable case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, commonly known in the medical community as TDS, was met, outside the Courthouse, with a force far greater than the Radical Left - MAGA."

Trump later posted what appeared to be a deep-fake video of De Niro speaking at the podium outside the courthouse.

"'I'm speaking to you today because I'm a scared little man, a washed up actor with lots of skeletons in my closet. People like me need Joe Biden and power not because he's any good, but because he enjoys the same sick perversions," it said.

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