Robert De Niro is expressing “love and support” for his daughter Airyn De Niro after she recently came out as transgender.
“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,” Robert De Niro, 81, told Variety in a statement. “I love all my children.”
In a recent interview with Them, Airyn, 29, spoke about “stepping into this new identity” and shared details about growing up as one of seven children in the De Niro household.
“There’s a difference between being visible and being seen,” Airyn told the outlet. “I’ve been visible. I don’t think I’ve been seen yet.”
Airyn said that “no parent is perfect, but I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight. They have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.”
She also spoke candidly about feeling like a “late bloomer.”
“I was always told I was too much of something or not enough of something growing up: Too big, not skinny enough. Not Black enough, not white enough. Too feminine, not masculine enough,” she explained. “It was never just, ‘You’re just right, just the way you are.’”
She revealed that she decided to begin hormone therapy last November.
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“I’d want to hopefully be an inspiration for at least one other person like me who is Black, who is queer, who’s not a size extra small,” Airyn said. “I’d want to see more trans women, more Black women who are maybe bigger-bodied or don’t fit the mold of super thin or heroin chic.”
Airyn also discussed the people she’s looked up to when deciding to go public with her transition, including Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox.
“Trans women being honest and open, especially (in) public spaces like social media and getting to see them in their success,” Airyn said. “I’m like, ‘You know what? Maybe it’s not too late for me.’”
After reading Airyn’s interview, Cox took to Instagram to share a video dedicated to her.
“I just want to take a moment and give a special shout-out to Airyn De Niro. Hi Airyn, I just read that I’m one of the women who’ve inspired you over the years and I’m deeply, deeply honoured that I can be an inspiration for you,” Cox said.
“I often have moments — particularly in these deeply troubling times — moments of feeling like I’m not doing enough, that I should be doing more. And I always have to remind myself that if I can touch one person’s life, if I can inspire someone, one person, to be more themselves, to live authentically, to embrace every single aspect of who they are, then that is enough.
“Reading that from you, Airyn, was a reminder that I have enough, I am enough and I do enough. I want to congratulate you on embracing the beauty that you are. And I’m not talking about the outside, I’m talking about the beauty that is being trans.”
After Airyn’s interview was published, she took to Instagram to thank everyone for all the support she’s received.
“Thank you to everyone who’s been so sweet and supportive! I’m not used to all these eyes on me,” she wrote. “Also for the folks asking if I have representation or signed to anyone, I am literally just a girl with a phone, so sorry if I miss your messages!”
Airyn’s mother is actor Toukie Smith, who shares Airyn and her twin brother Julian, 29, with De Niro.
The Killers of the Flower Moon actor is also the father of daughter Drena, 53, and son Raphael, 48, whom he shares with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott, to whom he was married from 1976 to 1988.
He is also father to son Elliot, 27, and daughter Helen Grace, 13, whom he shares with ex-wife Grace Hightower. He welcomed his two-year-old daughter Gia with girlfriend Tiffany Chen in April 2023.
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