Robert De Niro’s daughter has proudly revealed she’s a trans woman and how she’s grateful for her parents. Growing up, Robert and his ex-wife Toukie Smith gave their children a relatively private upbringing – despite their global stardom.
Now, Airyn, 29, has opened up about her journey to discovering her identity, admitting that she now has a desire to be “seen” since discovering herself. In a new interview, she hit out at speculation about herself and insisted that it made her realise people didn’t know anything about her.
Airyn slammed comments that she was a “nepo baby” due to her low profile and efforts to find success on her own terms, rather than using her parents’ fame for her own benefit. While she admits that no parent is “perfect”, her two parents made the right decision to not force fame on her.
She said: “I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight, they wanted it very private, they have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.”
Opening up about her decision to start hormone therapy and her transition in November of last year, Airyn told Them: “Trans women being honest and open, especially [in] public spaces like social media and getting to see them in their success… I’m like, ‘you know what? Maybe it’s not too late for me’.”
“Maybe I can start,” she added. Airyn continued: “I think a big part of [my transition] is also the influence Black women have had on me, I think stepping into this new identity, while also being more proud of my Blackness, makes me feel closer to them in some way.”
Growing up, Airyn admits she never felt accepted by the LGBTQ+ community as gay men were “ruthless and mean”, as she didn’t fit the “beauty standard” of being thin, muscular or super fit and masculine before her transition. Speaking previously, Robert explained that he “tries his best” to be a good dad, praying that he hopes his children will be “happy.”
She went on to say that growing up, she was told she was “too much” or “not enough” including being “too big, not skinny enough, not Black enough, not white enough,” and bullies would tell her she was “too feminine and not masculine enough” before her decision to transition.
Although he’s a hugely successful movie star, he was never too shy when it came to doing the school run, with one parent telling the New York Post: “He’d bike over with a bodyguard to pick Helen up every day after school. He looked like a dishevelled old man but he was a really doting dad and his daughter loved him.”
However, while her parents are famous, Airyn has chosen to follow her own path. She had previously had two auditions for the video game, League of Legends, which she had played with all of her friends. Sadly though, she missed out on the part as she wasn’t “right fit.”
She added that during her childhood, she never had side parts in her dad’s movies and never attended his meetings or movie premieres.
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