Robert De Niro says he loves and supports his transgender daughter: I dont know what the big deal is

Robert De Niro is supporting his daughter after she came out as transgender.The Academy Award winner, 81, addressed his daughter Airyn De Niro’s decision to tell the world she began hormone therapy last year and is living her life as a trans woman at 29 in her first-ever interview with Them published on Tuesday, April 29.“I loved and supported Aaron as my son, and now I love and support Airyn as my daughter.I don’t know what the big deal is,” De Niro told The Post in a statement on Wednesday, one day after Airyn’s story made headlines.

“I love all my children.”Airyn — who was born with the name Aaron — is one of the two children De Niro shares with his ex, model Toukie Smith.They are also parents to Airyn’s twin brother, Julian.De Niro’s support for Airyn is no surprise.The “Taxi Driver” actor’s late father, painter Robert De Niro Sr., lived as an openly gay man after struggling with his sexuality, which reportedly caused the end of marriage when the star was a toddler.

The artist died from cancer in 1993 at age 71.His son has kept his legacy alive, even appearing in the HBO documentary “Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr,” in which he read his father’s diary entries aloud.The award-winning actor also received the GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award in 2016 for his support of the LGBTQ+ community.Airyn spoke about her parents in her coming out article.“Obviously, no parent is perfect, but I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight,” she told Them of her upbringing.“They wanted it very private; they have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.”She also made it clear that while she hopes to follow her mom’s path into acting and modeling, Airyn does not want to be called a nepo baby.

“I wasn’t brought up having a side part in one of dad’s movies or going to business meetings or attending premieres.My dad was very big on us finding our o...