De Niro's court action fails to stop lawsuit
A US judge declined to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Robert De Niro of misrepresenting his health on a movie production insurance form.
US District Judge Manuel Real denied a motion by the Oscar-winning actor to dismiss the suit by the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co, which insured production on the Fox film 'Hide and Seek'.
The motion, filed in Los Angeles, called the suit “a case that should never have been filed”.
“We are still confident that we will prevail,” De Niro’s attorney Robyn Crowther said.
Fireman’s Fund claims the actor misrepresented his health when he wrote on an insurance form that he had never been diagnosed with or treated for prostate cancer.
According to court documents, De Niro was diagnosed with prostate cancer on October 15, 2003, two days after he signed the medical certificate.
De Niro underwent a prostate-gland biopsy on October 10.
De Niro’s diagnosis and resulting treatment delayed the movie production.
Fireman’s Fund paid Fox more than $1.8m (€1.3m) to cover the cost of the delay.
The film was released in January 2005.
A July 2 hearing is set to decide whether the case should be transferred back to state court.
