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Robert De Niro ‘Grappling’ With ‘Grief’ After Back-to-Back Losses: ‘Only So Much a Person Can Take’
Robert De Niro is devastated by the death of his ex Toukie Smith and loved ones led by girlfriend Tiffany Chen are doing their best to help, a source tells Globe.
The model-actress died on November 4 at the age of 74 following a “long, courageous battle” with multiple sclerosis, the former couple’s children, 31-year-old twins Airyn and Julian, announced to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Robert’s number one concern right now is for their children,” reveals the source. “He’s doing everything he can to help them get through this, but it’s very, very hard, and truth be told there’s not much he can do to ease the pain of this loss.”
After splitting from his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, in 1988, the two-time Oscar-winning actor, 83, dated Smith on and off until the mid-1990s, per People, during which time they welcomed the twins via surrogate.
De Niro also shares daughter Drena, 55, and son Raphael, 50, with Abbott; son Elliot, 28, and daughter Helen, 14, with ex-wife Grace Hightower; and three-year-old daughter Gia with Chen, whom he’s been dating since 2021.
“It’s so heartbreaking for him because all he wants to do is protect [Airyn and Julian] from any sort of pain,” says the source. “He’s also grappling with his own grief. Toukie was such a force of nature. He can’t believe she’s gone.”
Despite splitting up decades ago, Smith remained a “big part” of De Niro’s life thanks to their coparenting relationship, says the source. “They spoke all the time. She was a part of the family.”
Her death comes just three years after the tragic loss of De Niro’s grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, who passed away in July 2023 from a drug overdose.
As Globe previously reported, five people have since been charged in connection with the 19-year-old’s death.
“He’s never fully recovered from that,” the source shares. “He’s a very strong guy, but there’s only so much a person can take, and at his age it’s even more difficult to cope with this sort of grief, so people are understandably worried, especially Tiffany.”
