An expensive blow out - 20/08/02
Robert De Niro is huffing and puffing; he has begun a $1m (£655,000) legal action over a photograph taken at his birthday party. The Raging Bull actor claims that a paparazzi shot of him and Sean Penn blowing out candles at their joint party last year was taken illegally.

De Niro and Penn, who share a 17 August birthday, were celebrating their 58th and 41st birthdays at De Niro’s loft apartment in New York’s trendy TriBeCa area.

De Niro’s slick lawyer said in a statement, ’Our contention, as we hope to prove in the lawsuit, is that someone snuck into a private residence and took unauthorized pictures for profit.’

The paparazzo in question was working for photo agency Celebrity Vibe and the photograph was sold to an American paper who ran the picture. Jeffrey Boyard, a co-owner of Celebrity Vibe, maintains that the photographer was invited.

De Niro Will Rock You - 14/05/02
The world premi?re of new West End musical We Will Rock You hits the Dominion Theatre tonight. The musical, featuring songs by Queen, was written by comedian and author Ben Elton and is being produced by Hollywood legend Robert De Niro. It has been six years in the making, after De Niro met Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor at the Venice Film Festival. The total cost for the musical is believed to be £7.5million. Get down there if only to catch a glimpse of the sexy man himself.

De Niro moves into Borough - 06/12/01
Robert De Niro has bought a £750,000 penthouse in the converted Hartley jam factory, in the area of Borough, which has been nicknamed SoBo - south of Borough.

The prediction is the actor’s purchase will do the same for Borough as his commercial and residential purchases the area in New York’s Tribeca in terms of raising it’s desirability and property price.

A source close to the property development was reported in the Evening Standard as saying: "This is a real stamp of approval for the Jam Factory. De Niro is not only Hollywood’s biggest name, but also a canny property developer in his own right.

The fact that he got the property at a snip is testament to his ability to see this as an investment - not only a great place to live. When the news gets out, the rest of the block will be snapped up straight away."

Although de Niro hasn’t yet seen the property himself, he is reported to have put in an immediate offer when his property hunters showed him video footage of the 2,100 sq ft two-bedroom penthouse with private roof terrace, 360-degree panoramic views of London, and own gym.

Each apartment in the block is connected by an internal e-mail system, and has access to a library of DVDs and videos. Last year it was reported that De Niro had bought an apartment in Docklands, but it is believed that purchase never actually went through, and currently De Niro is staying in an apartment in Central Park West for £16,000 a month while his £5million house six miles away is renovated.