Robert De Niro shows support for daughter Airyn after she shares she’s trans: ‘I don’t know what the big deal is’

Robert De Niro speaks onstage with JR during the 2024 Tribeca Festival in 2024. (Dominik Bindl/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Robert De Niro is expressing his love and support for his daughter Airyn De Niro, after she recently shared publicly for the first time that she is 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 told CNN in a statement. “I love all my children.”

Airyn De Niro, 29, was born to actor Robert De Niro and actress Toukie Smith in 1995. She discussed her early life as one of the Oscar-winning actor’s seven children and her more recent transition in an interview with Them, published this week.

“I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight,” she told the outlet. “They have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.”

Acknowledging her parents’ support, De Niro said she struggled with cultural messages that made her feel she was “Not Black enough, not white enough. Too feminine, not masculine enough. It was never just, ‘You’re just right, just the way you are.’”

“Trans women being honest and open, especially [in] public spaces like social media and getting to see them in their success… I’m like, you know what? Maybe it’s not too late for me,” De Niro, who described herself as a “late bloomer,” said of her internal process.

Beyond the support of her father, De Niro was flooded with encouraging messages on social media after the interview published.

“Thank you to everyone who’s been so sweet and supportive!” De Niro wrote on Instagram.

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN