Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

De Niro Goes Jake LaMotta on Schwarzenegger at Jewish Charity Event

Robert de Niro refused to be photographed with Arnold Schwarzenegger over political differences at the VIP cocktail reception for the annual Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Western Regional Gala on November 3.

After some photos had already been taken, de Niro took offence. “If you’re supporting Trump, I want nothing to do with you,” he said, and walked away from the actor-turned-politician. (The photograph accompanying this article comes from the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015.)

Malina Saval in Variety described de Niro’s actions as “channeling his inner Jake LaMotta” — referring to his combative boxing character from “Raging Bull” — as the Italian-American actor refused to even let the former Republican governor of California explain his position.

In a tweet on October 8, Schwarzenegger had made it clear that he would not be voting for Trump, but has not said who he will be voting for.

Although the event is non-partisan, it was chaired by one of Hillary Clinton’s most important supporters, FIDF national board member Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.