Robert De Niro Was Part of an International Child Prostitution Ring-Mostly Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Robert De Niro was connected to an international prostitution ring that used children.
The Truth:
Authorities investigating a French “call-girl network” that targeted high-profile clients around the world questioned Robert De Niro as a witness in 1998. But De Niro wasn’t charged with a crime, and there’s been no official indication that children were part of the prostitution ring.
Word of a “prostitution ring for royalty” first surfaced in 1997. Robert De Niro was reportedly detained in Paris and questioned for more than nine hours after his name was mentioned “incidentally” by one of the women who came forward with charges in February 1998. De Niro’s attorney said “the actor had been questioned about his relations with a prostitute involved in the ring, which was aimed at wealthy Middle East clients,” De Niro denied that he paid for sex.
The BBC reported in January 1999 that the case involved 90 young women, “including 14 minors, and a network that allegedly spread from Paris to the Riviera, and covered Morocco, the United States, Portugal, Switzerland and Britain.” French photographer Jean-Pierre Bourgeois was sentenced to five years in prison for “procurement of prostitutes” in the case. Prostitution is legal in France, but procurement of prostitutes is not. Ultimately, six people faced charges in the case.
The claim that Robert De Niro was connected to an international child prostitution ring appeared at the fringe website Your News Wire in July 2017. And it re-circulated in July 2018 by De Niro detractors after the actor said “f- Trump” on stage at the Tony Awards.
In the end, we’re calling the rumor “mostly fiction.” De Niro was questioned as a “witness” in the prostitution ring. However, he never faced charges and has always denied involvement.