The Affair Drama That Destroyed Robert De Niro's First Marriage

Legendary Hollywood actor Robert De Niro has had an interesting relationship history, to say the very least. De Niro had a long if chaotic marriage to socialite Grace Hightower, from 1997 to 2018, while the "Raging Bull" star also enjoyed a '90s romance with supermodel Naomi Campbell. More recently, De Niro became one of the oldest fathers in modern history when, at the age of 79, the Oscar winner welcomed a daughter with his much-younger girlfriend Tiffany Chen, who was about 45 years old at the time. Long before any of that, however, De Niro was married to fellow actor Diahnne Abbott, who appeared opposite him in such films as "Taxi Driver," "New York, New York," and "The King of Comedy." 

But, while the two were together for over a decade, it was ultimately a rather dramatic affair that spelled the end of their union. De Niro and Abbott wed in 1976, shortly after meeting on the set of "Taxi Driver." That same year, the happy couple welcomed a son together, and De Niro legally adopted Abbott's daughter from a previous relationship. Just a short while later, though, the actor reportedly began seeing singer Helena Springs in secret. 

Springs claims that she met De Niro in 1979 and the two began an affair that lasted up until about 1982, per the Associated Press. This alleged infidelity was apparently one of several things that led to De Niro and Abbott's marriage becoming strained, in addition to the "Godfather" star's rapid rise through the ranks of Hollywood. This culminated in the two finally going their separate ways in 1988. And, although De Niro's supposed illicit fling with Springs had ended well before that, it continued to haunt him for some time after the fact.

In 1982, around the time that Robert De Niro's alleged affair with Helena Springs ended, the singer — whose real name is Helena Lisandrello — welcomed her daughter, Nina Lisandrello. A decade later, Springs filed a paternity suit against De Niro, claiming that he was the father of her child and demanding that the Oscar winner pay $10,000 per month in child support, as reported at the time by the Los Angeles Times. According to the report, De Niro seemingly believed that he was indeed Nina's father for a time, as he had previously been shelling out regular child support payments — a point later contested by the actor's lawyers — while maintaining sporadic contact with Nina. 

However, prior to the lawsuit, De Niro allegedly stopped paying once he became convinced that he was not actually her father. The "Killers of the Flower Moon" star was eventually proven correct when three separate blood tests confirmed that Nina was not, in fact, his daughter. Even so, Springs' camp continued to pursue child support on the grounds that De Niro had acted like a father, even if they weren't biologically related. But the judge was unconvinced, and ultimately ruled in his favor in 1993, per the Associated Press. 

Funnily enough, though, Nina still went on to follow in her not-father's footsteps, becoming a successful actor in her own right. She's arguably best known for starring in all four seasons of the CW's sci-fi police procedural "Beauty & the Beast," which ran from 2012 to 2016. Nina has also appeared in episodes of "FBI," "NCIS: New Orleans," and "Law & Order." Playing cops instead of mobsters? She must really not be De Niro's daughter.