Robert De Niro reaches custody agreement with ex-wife Grace Hightower over their eight-year-old daughter during bitter divorce battle
- Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower managed to avoid a custody trial by coming to the agreement
- De Niro said that he felt ‘great’ about the agreement
- The couple announced the end of their 21-year marriage in November 2018, filing for divorce the following month
- In the filing, Robert asked a judge for visitation with his daughter, Helen Grace, whom he and Grace welcomed via a surrogate in 2011
- He’s tried repeatedly to keep any details of the divorce under wraps
Judge Matthew Cooper said during the Friday hearing in the Manhattan Supreme Court that the pair managed to avoid a custody trial by coming to the agreement over their daughter Helen Grace
Robert De Niro and his estranged wife Grace Hightower worked out a custody deal for their eight-year-old daughter on Valentines Day in Manhattan.
Judge Matthew Cooper said during the Friday hearing in the Manhattan Supreme Court that the pair managed to avoid a custody trial by coming to the agreement, the New York Daily News reports.
‘I have in my hand a parenting agreement that has been executed by the parties,’ Cooper said in court documents. ‘It will result in a plan by which the parents will move forward, and as I’ve said before, cooperatively raise their daughter.’
De Niro said that he felt ‘great’ about the agreement.
The couple announced the end of their 21-year marriage in November 2018, filing for divorce the following month.
In the filing, Robert asked a judge for visitation with his daughter, Helen Grace, whom he and Grace welcomed via a surrogate in 2011.
De Niro said that he felt ‘great’ about the agreement
He’s tried repeatedly to keep any details of the divorce under wraps.
De Niro was granted an anonymous moniker for his divorce filing in Manhattan on December 13, 2018, a rare option only given out ‘sparingly’ and meant to preserve children’s ‘health and welfare.’
The couple announced the end of their 21-year marriage in November 2018, filing for divorce the following month. Pictured in 2015 with Helen Grace
The Hollywood icon shares two children with Hightower, including 21-year-old Elliot, who was conceived by IVF.
His large family includes two other children from his relationship with former model Toukie Smith, which lasted from 1988 to 1996, and two children from his first marriage to actress and singer Diahnne Abbott.
Robert and Diahnne were married 1976-1988, and she had small roles in some of his films, including Taxi Driver and The King Of Comedy.
After confirming his split from Hightower, De Niro lauded his ex-wife as a ‘wonderful mother’.
‘Grace and I have two beautiful children together. We are entering a period of transition in our relationship which is a difficult but constructive process,’ he said in a statement.
‘I honor Grace as a wonderful mother and ask for privacy and respect from all as we proceed to develop our roles as partners in parenting.’
This isn’t the first time that the couple have tried to go their separate ways.
De Niro first filed for divorce from Hightower in 1999, just two years after they tied the knot.
Back then, they fought over custody of Elliot before making amends and renewing their vows in 2004.
De Niro first filed for divorce from Hightower in 1999, just two years after they tied the knot