Robert De Niro has accused the organizers of a film awards ceremony of editing his speech without permission, removing critical remarks of former president Donald Trump and other political comments. De Niro was presenting the Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award at the Gotham Awards on Monday when, mid-speech, he paused and looked confused as he read off the teleprompter. De Niro continued with his speech, then said: “I just want to say one thing. The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, I didn’t know about it. And I want to read it.”

“History isn’t history anymore,” De Niro said. “Truth is not truth. Even facts are being replaced by alternative facts and driven by conspiracy theories and ugliness.” The actor cited changes to Florida’s Black history curriculum, which requires students to be taught that enslaved people “developed skills” that “could be applied for their personal benefit,” and added that “the entertainment industry isn’t immune to this festering disease.” Before De Niro’s F-bomb came ‘punk,’ ‘dog,’ ‘pig’ and other choice words for Trump “Lying has become just another tool in the charlatan’s arsenal,” he added. “The former president lied to us more than 30,000 times during his four years in office, and he’s keeping up the pace in his current campaign of retribution. But with all his lies, he can’t hide his soul.”

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