I hesitate to write this and give more exposure to the childish, vulgar temper tantrum the irrelevant, grumpy old coot Robert De Niro threw on the stage of the Tony Awards last night in which he said "Eff Trump" twice. I also hesitate to write this because I'm not a huge proponent of people in the media like me getting all political when the primary reason people come to them is for some sort of light-hearted entertainment. I hesitate to write this, but I will proceed, and de-politicize it enough to the point where I will say I am neither a die-hard supporter nor sworn enemy of President Donald Trump.
That being said, I am an enemy of people who sabotage a platform they are given as De Niro did, pulling a fast one on CBS and Tony Awards producers (presumably) to push a political agenda in Neanderthal fashion when all he was graciously invited to do (given that he doesn't matter anymore) was to introduce Bruce Springsteen. Shame on him for exploiting this opportunity to sling obscene phrases over a national broadcast which little kids or unsuspecting grandmothers may be watching (thank you, quick-reacting censors, for keeping the broadcast as classy as possible in the face of the classless De Niro). Shame on him for disrespecting the office of the presidency, regardless of who's in it, with such obscene language. Shame on him for soiling the introduction to Bruce Springsteen (even if "The Boss" approved of it, which I don't know if he did) just so he could create a viral moment.
Don't get me wrong, Bob. I get anger, trust me. I understand fury even. I actually paid good money in a theater to see "Meet The Fockers" and wasted 20 minutes of my life giving "Little Fockers" a chance on Netflix before realizing that you were no longer in the business of doing even remotely quality work and were now just content cashing paychecks. But anger doesn't give you the right to hijack an evening designed to be positive, to celebrate the hard work of so many young artists striving to become what you once were - an international star. Now you are just a bitter, pathetic, washed-up old man. Trump won the election. You are free to bash him with your friends, with your entertainment colleagues who shamefully enabled you and gave your filthy, immature language a standing ovation last night, or anyone else that is in a welcome, suitable arena to accept your ideas. The Tony Awards, the Oscars, whatever, simply aren't the place for this political character assassination. Give out the damn award then step aside and keep your mouth shut while the winner basks in the glory of his or her entertainment achievement,
You, De Niro, and all those who stood and whooped and hollered like small children for your disgraceful spew at the Tonys, need to understand that your behavior in this fashion does little to endear you to anyone but each other, and even alienates people from being your fans and seeing the deplorable movies and TV shows you and your ilk churn out these days. For whether they support Trump or not, nobody likes a whiny, self-righteous crybaby. Trump won the election. Fair and square. You don't need to like it. But you truly NEED to get over it and move on with your life, and to stop cramming your biased agenda down the throats of people who truly don't give a crap what you think. They do care what you SAY, but only when a talented screenwriter crafts clever words for you to regurgitate out of your mouth while a director tells you where to stand and say them and someone lights you favorably so you don't look so damn ancient.
Translation: stop taking yourself so seriously. You are an actor - a glorified puppet, who made a career of being manipulated by others who made you look good. You are not a savvy political mind. You are not some wise sage put here to illuminate us all. So just go back to reciting some quotable piece of dialogue written by a talented screenwriter while making your trademark "De Niro Face". That's the only reason we pay attention to you. I know it's hard now that your heyday is long over to have people suddenly not caring about you anymore, but dissing Trump is not the answer.
Honestly, to all of Hollywood, stop with these inappropriate protests that, guess what, aren't going to change ANYTHING. Yes, you have a right to free speech, but we also, as viewers, have a right to expect when we put on the Tonys to GET the Tonys, and not some hyperventilating loser turning the show into a political propaganda circus.
So, as we say here on the morning show to anyone speaking out of turn, "Robert De Niro... Shut The EFF Up!"