Robert De Niro's Daughter Reflects on Late Son's Addiction Battle
Robert De Niro's daughter Drena released a lengthy statement on Instagram about her 19-year-old son Leandro De Niro Rodriguez's passing a day after an official autopsy confirmed his cause of death.
The 51-year-old wrote, "I see that many people feel it's necessary to place the blame on my son for using the drugs, to me as his mother for being hurt, shocked and angry at the sudden loss of my only child and even on his grandfather, whom many seem to think possesses a direct connection or influence on how the U.S. borders are operated."
She continued, "Now I know there is no way to reason with stupidity or ignorance but I will say that as long as we keep blaming the addict and person suffering mental illness we are going to continue to see more of this."
Drena also shed light on some of Leandro's mental health struggles that led to his addiction, noting, "My son suffered tremendously through the pandemic as many many of your kids had but sadly addiction took over in the last year and eventually killed him."
She added, "When you decide to comment on people's misfortune and loss at least really think about the emotional and mental fragility of the people you're attacking online. We are all human beings in the end. Neither I, my family, nor my son asked to be public tabloid fodder for trolling, that's just what we have to deal with on top of a paramount loss."
TMZ reported on Aug. 8 that, according to New York City's chief medical examiner, Leandro passed away on July 3 after consuming a combination of drugs: fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine, and cocaine. His death was ruled as an accidental overdose.
Read Drena's statement in full below:
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