NEWSRobert De Niro Was 'Smitten' With Whitney Houston and Sent Her a 'Room Full of Flowers,' Late Singer's Bodyguard Claims
Whitney Houston's former bodyguard said Robert De Niro was 'not an individual used to taking no for an answer.'
Robert De Niro apparently had quite a big crush on Whitney Houston!
In his new book, Protecting Whitney, the “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” artist’s former bodyguard David Roberts revealed The Intern alum made advances on the late singer.
Whitney Houston's mom had to tell Robert De Niro to stop sending her daughter gifts, according to the former bodyguard.
"Mr. De Niro was smitten with Ms. Houston," the ex-police officer — who was hired by Houston in 1988 for her U.K. portion of the Moment of Truth world tour. "He kept sending her flowers. I don’t mean a bunch of flowers . . . it was a room full of flowers. And that was for a few months."
The Welsh-born bodyguard wrote that De Niro was "not an individual used to taking no for an answer” despite Houston’s rejection of him. The “I Will Always Love You” vocalist’s mother had to take matters into her own hands to get the Killers of the Flower Moon star off her daughter's back.
"She called him up," he said. "She told him to stop it – stop making a fool out of himself. And when Cissy Houston says stop it, you stop it. That was the end of that."
According to the book, Whitney was dating Eddie Murphy at the time of Robert's advances.
Whitney Houston's mom reportedly told Robert De Niro to stop sending flowers and 'making a fool out of himself.'
While on The Byron Allen Show in 1990, the Grammy winner addressed the gifts the Oscar winner sent her, noting he followed her "all the way to London" in hopes of making a connection.
"He sent me flowers and everything, and he’d been on my case," the star — who passed away at age 48 in 2012 — said at the time. "He’d been sweating me for a little while… He was like, ‘Is Whitney here? How long ago did she leave?’… He called me the night at Carnegie Hall. He did. He called backstage and wanted to talk to me that night… He called me that night."
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"He was a little bit shy, so he didn’t want to come to the show because he shies away from the public eye," she added. "But… he sent me some flowers and stuff, and he wanted to get to know me better… [But] he’s going with Toukie Smith."
Whitney claimed Robert wanted to "do a movie with her."
'He kept sending her flowers. I don’t mean a bunch of flowers . . . it was a room full of flowers,' the bodyguard said of Robert De Niro's advances.
"It’s a really good script, and I’m looking at it," she stated. "I think he’s a wonderful actor. One of the best."
As OK! previously reported, though the actor and the songstress never made a love connection, the 81-year-old has since found romance with girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, whom he welcomed daughter Gia with in April 2023.
Whiteny Houston was reportedly dating Eddie Murphy at the time of Robert De Niro's advances.
Robert also have kids Drena, 53, and Raphael, 47, whom he shares with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott; sons Julian and Aaron, 28, whom he shares with Toukie Smith; son Elliot, 26, and daughter Helen Grace, 12, whom he shares with his ex-wife Grace Hightower.
