NYC artist Scott LoBaido was busy last night. The conservative painter was awake, creating his latest provocative piece. The 3' x 5' black-and-white acrylic on canvas is titled "Cry-Baby". It depicts Donald Trump and Robert De Niro in a boxing match, the former standing triumphantly over the latter.
Hailing from Staten Island, LoBaido makes a habit of attending conservative events around the city, imbuing the proceedings with his signature brand of patriotism. Almost two weeks ago, he released 100 penis-shaped mylar balloons outside of the Trump trial. The balloons were decorated with the faces of leftist adversaries of Trump, such as Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Juan Merchan, and others.
LoBaido's latest creation is a fitting swipe at De Niro. 44 years ago, De Niro played Jake La Motta in the Scorcese classic Raging Bull. The lead role in the film ultimately loses everything due to his inability to verbalize his emotions. The aging De Niro suffered from the opposite problem yesterday: he expressed himself, but he sounded like a punch-drunk boxer.
If film critics had reviewed the actor's performance on the sidewalk outside the New York Supreme Court, they may well have cried, "tedious!" and "hyperbolic!" One actual critic at the painting's unveiling came up with his own title, delightfully howling, "Raging Bullshit!"
Prints will soon be available on LoBaido's website.
The younger generation--the ones who know De Niro for The Fockers instead of The Deer Hunter--are discovering tawdry bits from the actor's past.
First is a 1998 arrest in Paris where De Niro's name appeared in a prostitution ring ledger. It was alleged that many of the prostitutes were underage.
More recently, De Niro was accused by a longtime employee of unwanted sexual advances. Graham Chase Robinson, 41, accused De Niro of unwanted physical advances when she worked for him from 2008 until 2019. She also claimed the actor assigned her gender-based jobs such as cooking and cleaning.
In response, De Niro and his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, 45, accused Robinson of spending thousands of dollars streaming episodes of the popular nineties TV show Friends, and racking up transportation expenses.
The actor, 80, was recently divorced from his wife, Grace Hightower. The matter was settled in March of last year. Their first split, a separation, came in 1999...on the heels of the French child prostitution scandal.
There's anger and fear there. It's like he's on a list or something.