No, viral video doesn’t show Robert De Niro confronting pro-Palestine demonstrators

Pro-Palestine protests have taken place in cities and on college campuses across the U.S. in connection with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. The protesters have demanded action from universities and the Biden administration, calling for ties to Israel be severed because of the mounting death toll in Gaza. 

A video shared multiple times with millions of views across social media claims to show actor Robert De Niro confronting a group of pro-Palestine protesters, suggesting De Niro “stands with Israel.” 

“Robert de Niro standing up to the Hamas supporting rabble protesting. He’s had enough. We’ve all had enough,” one X post says. Some versions of the same video include text on the video that says “Robert De Niro stands with Israel.”

De Niro can be heard in the video saying, “This is not a movie. This is real. This is real. And if you're going to keep talking nonsense, then you gotta go home."

The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, Israeli newspapers, also initially reported that the video shows De Niro confronting protesters. 

THE QUESTION

Does this video show Robert De Niro confronting pro-Palestine protesters?

THE SOURCES

• Stan Rosenfield, a spokesman for Robert De Niro
• A spokesperson for Netflix
• Associated Press report about the video
• X post from actor Mozhan Navabi
• Getty Images

THE ANSWER

No, this video doesn’t show Robert De Niro confronting pro-Palestine demonstrators. De Niro was rehearsing a scene for a Netflix series.

WHAT WE FOUND

The claims being shared online are “100% false,” De Niro’s publicist, Stan Rosenfield told VERIFY. Rosenfield said the video shows De Niro rehearsing a scene for the Netflix series “Zero Day” on April 27 in New York City. 

There were no pro-Palestine demonstrations being held near where De Niro was rehearsing, Rosenfield said.

“It’s very simple. They – being Netflix – have a show called ‘Zero Day’ in which Robert De Niro plays an ex-president of the United States and is addressing a crowd of onlookers, and he is speaking to that crowd. He is not speaking to any protesters,” Rosenfield said. 

Netflix also confirmed to VERIFY that the video doesn’t show De Niro confronting protesters.

“This is a rehearsal for a scene for a Netflix series that was shot on Saturday, April 27,” Netflix told the Associated Press (AP), referring to the video clip spreading online. “It was part of a production.”

Rosenfield told VERIFY the original video was likely taken by a fan and then shared to appear as though it shows De Niro talking to protesters. But, Rosenfield said, “if the camera moved back, it would be obvious to anybody this is a television set.”

Getty Images published photos from the set of “Zero Day” that match what Rosenfield and Netflix said was happening in the video. 

At 13-seconds into the video, actor Jesse Plemons can be seen standing next to De Niro. That closely matches this Getty Images photo, which is captioned with “Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons are seen on the set of 'Zero Day' on April 27, 2024 in New York, New York.”

There is no mention of De Niro confronting, nor speaking to, pro-Palestine demonstrations in any captions in the Getty Images photo gallery from the “Zero Day” set. 

Actor Mozhan Navabi, who also has a role in the Netflix series, took to social media to dispel the false information.

“Just responding to an article you wrote in Haaretz. @shap56405  Robert Deniro is giving a speech as his character in the upcoming Netflix show Zero Day. I’m also in it, and when I saw the clip, I recognized the speech. It’s fiction. Please verify before you publish,” Marno wrote. 

VERIFY reached out to Marno for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication.

The Haaretz article has since been deleted, and The Jerusalem Post updated the article it originally published with a correction.