Robert De Niro makes statement on death of ‘beloved’ grandson Leandro De Niro
The passing of Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was announced this week
By Joe Goggins
Robert De Niro has broken his silence on the passing of his grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez.
The death of the 19-year-old was announced earlier this week (July 3), in an Instagram post by his mother, Drena De Niro. Now, her father, screen legend De Niro, has made his first public statement since the loss of Leandro, saying in a statement issued to Fox News: “I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo. We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone. We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo.”
According to Drena, who is De Niro’s eldest daughter, Leandro died after taking pills that were laced with fentanyl. “Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him,” she wrote. “For all these people still f*****g around selling and buying this s**t, my son is gone forever.” No cause of death has been independently verified, but Daily Mail reports that Leandro’s body was found next to a quantity of white powder at an apartment in the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street, New York.
Sources cited by Daily Mail said that the Narcotics Borough Manhattan South division of the New York Police Department are investigating Leandro’s death, suggesting drugs were involved. De Niro adopted Drena after marrying her mother, Diahne Abbott, in 1976. He recently welcomed his seventh child, at the age of 79. He has three other grandchildren through his son, the real estate broker Raphael De Niro.
De Niro, a two-time Academy Award winner who rose to prominence through now-iconic roles in The Godfather Part II and Taxi Driver, will next be seen on the big screen in Killers of the Flower Moon, his eleventh collaboration with director Matin Scorsese. The epic Western, produced by Apple on a budget of $200 million, is expected to release in the US on October 20. The first trailer for the film, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Jesse Plemons, was released yesterday (July 5).