Summary
Despite what the rumors may say,Kevin Costnernever fired Robert De Niro. Costner and De Niro are the old guard of the Hollywood A-list stratosphere. They are both well into the late portions of their careers and both continue to do some of their best work. Costner has remained a fixture in pop culture thanks tohis public departure fromYellowstoneafter years in the lead role, as well as his work onHorizon: An American Saga, which has run into critical troublesince the first film opened to poor reviews and lor box office earnings.
Robert De Niro, who spent much of the 2000s and 2010s making more eclectic decisions about what movies he would appear in,has recently returned to his dramatic roots, beginning withThe Jokerin 2019. Since then, he’s had acclaimed performances inThe Irishman,Ezra, andThe Killers of the Flower Moon, the latter of which earned De Niroa Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 96th Academy Awards. Costner and De Niro are elder statesmen in the industry, which is why a rumor about the two, however fictional, is too tantalizing not to consider.
“I Never Intended To Work With De Niro”: Sylvester Stallone Clarifies Rumors Of Robert De Niro Feud
Sylvester Stallone speaks out and clarifies rumors about his supposed feud with Robert De Niro and never wanting to work together with him again.
The Rumor That Kevin Costner Fired Robert De Niro Was A Satirical Tweet
Allegedly, De Niro Was Supposed To Receive $30 Million For His Performance
On August 06, 2025, X user@NobodymrRobertposted a rumor on his page about Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro. The post was a picture of De Niro and Costner next to each other with the words,
“He’s Disrespectful and He Doesn’t Know When to Shut Up”
Allegedly, this was Costner speaking about De Niro, and the caption of the photo says that De Niro was supposed to earn $30 million for what Coster considered a “pity role” and,
“I gave it to him because he’s having a hard time finding work. Then he pulls that stunt in Lower Manhattan. I don’t need that kind of negativity on my set.”
That “stunt” is a reference to De Niro’s May 28 remarksoutside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump’s New York City criminal hush money trial was occurring, which did really happen. It was an event organized by President Joe Biden’s campaign team back when he was still running for reelection (viaAssociated Press). The original X post has 31K views and 1.3K likes, while a similar but since deleted Facebook post had 80K likes.
However, the entire situation is made up, made very obvious by the fact that in none of these posts is the name of the project De Niro was supposedly fired from.
However, the entire situation is made up, made very obvious by the fact that none of these posts disclose the name of the project De Niro was supposedly fired from. “The Reagan Was Right"Facebookpage, which @NobodymrRobert used in their Tweet, is part of the larger “America’s Last Line Of Defense” (ALLOD)Facebookpage that’s allegedly a satire and troll network. ALLOD posted a similar version of the Tweet on theirFacebookpage with a modified caption,
“‘I gave him the role out of pity,’ said Costner, ‘I needed an aging Italian tough-guy stereotype, and he does that well. But so do twenty other actors.'”
In the comments of the ALLOD post,ALLOD admitted to the ruse, saying,
“If you’re looking for the source of the story, look no further. No, literally. Look no further You won’t find anything. Please don’t inform us about your research; there’s no need to show your work.
For those of you who don’t care if it’s true or not because half of what you’ve shared since 2016 has been complete bullhonkey and you know it, congrats on your feel-good win for the day.
Please click an ad before you go. God Bless America.”
What exactly ALLOD meant by this piece of “satire” is undetermined, but it’s clear that the post’s information was untrue.
Costner Confessed To Having A Difficult Time Acting With De Niro In The Untouchables
Eliot Ness And Al Capone Have Very Different Personalities In The Untouchables
Perhaps ALLOD was referring to the real-life friction between Costner and De Niro from back in the ’80s when they starred inThe Untouchablesas Eliot Ness (Costner) and Al Capone (De Niro) (EW). Coster said that acting alongside De Niro was difficult,
“I had trouble with some of the scenes with [De Niro], because my character was very straight-arrow, and Robert was able to jump off the page. I was trying to survive with my straight-arrow language against someone who was throwing a level of street language at me that had a level of improv to it. So it was hard for me to survive in some of those scenes, and Sean talked to me a little bit about it.”
Of course,this “conflict” wasn’t personal and was entirely professional. Both men were so deep into their characters, that the struggles the historical figures would have had seemed to play themselves out on set. It’s a testament toKevin CostnerandRobert De Niro, both Academy Award winners, that they take their performances so seriously, that they can find it difficult to interact as their characters.
The Untouchables
Cast
The Untouchables, directed by Brian De Palma, is a crime drama set during Prohibition-era Chicago. The film stars Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, a federal agent determined to bring down the notorious gangster Al Capone, portrayed by Robert De Niro. Alongside Sean Connery as seasoned officer Jim Malone, Ness forms an elite team to combat organized crime, focusing on the legal strategy to dismantle Capone’s empire.
