Robert De Niro has applauded pal Meryl Streep for taking aim at Donald Trump in her Golden Globes lifetime achievement award acceptance speech.
“What you said was great. It needed to be said, and you said it beautifully,” De Niro wrote to Streep in a letter published by People. “I have so much respect for you that you did it while the world was celebrating your achievements. I share your sentiments about punks and bullies. Enough is enough.”
De Niro thanked Streep for using her “powerful voice,” which he says “inspires others to speak up as they should so their voices will be heard too. It is so important that we ALL speak up.”
While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, Streep called Hollywood the most “vilified” segment of American society following Trump’s election, and called on the media to stand up to Trump “to hold power to account, to call to the carpet for every outrage.”
While they’ve shared the big screen four times throughout the years, Streep and De Niro also share disdain for the President-elect.
Last June, Streep donned orange makeup and a fat suit to lampoon then-candidate Trump at the annual Shakespeare in the Park Public Theater Gala event in Central Park.
A month before the election, De Niro said he’d like to “punch” Trump “in the face.”
The Taxi Driver actor is also no stranger to controversial speeches.
While accepting his own Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, De Niro made some off-color jokes about immigration and deportation.
“I’m sorry more members of the foreign press aren’t with us tonight, but many were deported right before the show along with most of the waiters. And Javier Bardem,” De Niro said to the sound of groans from the audience.
Agencies/Canadajournal