Inside Whoopi Goldberg and Robert De Niro’s Decades-Long Friendship: ‘They Admire Each Other’

Robert De Niro is known for being one of Hollywood’s most guarded characters, but a source says he’s got no qualms opening up to close pal Whoopi Goldberg – and the pair are so close these days they’re more like brother and sister.

“This has been a friendship that has slowly grown over the decades and that both Whoopi and De Niro totally treasure,” an insider exclusively tells Closer of the decades-long friendship. “Sure, Whoopi knows everybody in show business, including billionaire moguls and tons of A-list actors, but in terms of people who have truly won her respect, that list is short and De Niro is at the absolute top of it.”

The source says both Robert, 81, and Whoopi, 69, who are both from New York City, have bonded over their Big Apple roots through the years.

“Robert trusts Whoopi implicitly. They both have this New York energy from the ‘80s and a million mutual friends who didn’t survive even close to as long as they have,” the insider adds. “Even outside of the movie business, they have been through a ton together, from 9/11 and its aftermath to the financial crisis and Covid.”

Both Robert and Whoopi have been pillars in the entertainment industry for decades, with his acting credits spanning more than 120 films and TV shows and her talent earning her EGOT status. The pair have also shared the screen a number of times over the years, including 2000’s The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and 2023’s Ezra.

“When De Niro was trying to relaunch the movie industry in New York after the pandemic, Whoopi was right there on the front lines supporting him when a lot of stars were still afraid to leave the house,” the source says. “The bottom line is that they’re both survivors and kings of the jungle, and they admire each other because of that.”

Robert recently appeared on Whoopi’s talk show, The View, where he discussed his life, career and relationship with Tiffany Chen while promoting his new movie, The Alto Knights. As Whoopi introduced the segment on the show, she called Robert “one of the greatest on the planet.” The Oscar winner received a thunderous applause as he walked out onto the stage and sat at the desk with the cohosts.

During the segment, Robert said that Tiffany, with whom he shares daughter Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro, suggested that the actor’s real dogs appear in the movie.

“My girlfriend was doing a little makeup test and Jason Sosnoff, one of the producers, was talking about the dog walking scenes and casting the dog,” Robert told the cohosts on The View during the March episode. “So my girlfriend said to me, ‘Well, how about our dogs?’ She showed the pictures and Barry [Levinson] liked them. I think I even brought the dogs to meet him.”

“I said one thing [to the dogs], ‘If you do this, you better not f–k it up. Only speak when you’re spoken to,’” he hilariously said.