Robert De Niro’s Daughter Airyn Comes Out as Trans Woman
Robert De Niro Shares Sweet Update on Daughter Gia Ahead of Her 2nd Birthday (Exclusive)
Airyn De Niro is sharing a glimpse into her world.Â
Robert De Niro and Toukie Smith’s 29-year-old daughter reflected on her experience being a “late bloomer” when it came to coming out as a transgender woman.Â
“I think a big part of [my transition] is the influence Black women have had on me,” Airyn told Them Magazine in an interview published April 29. “I think stepping into this new identity, while also being more proud of my Blackness, makes me feel closer to them in some way.”Â
Although Airyn, who began hormone therapy in November 2024, felt closer to her identity, she admitted that she worried about her close relationships. She added, “I think part of me is concerned that [my family] will maybe still think of me as the person I was before the transition.”Â
For the actress, it was representation in media like Laverne Cox, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Jools Lebron that inspired her to begin her own journey.
“Trans women being honest and open, especially [in] public spaces like social media and getting to see them in their success,” she explained, “I’m like, you know what? Maybe it’s not too late for me.”
As Airyn, who is a twin with her brother Julian De Niro, simply put it, “Maybe I can start.”
With little representation for women, especially trans women, who look like her, she was ready to be part of the change she wanted to see.Â
“I’d want to hopefully be an inspiration for at least one other person like me who is Black, who is queer, who’s not a size extra small,” she reflected. “I’d want to see more trans women, more Black women who are maybe bigger-bodied or don’t fit the mold of super thin.”
Airyn De Niro/Instagram
It isn’t just trans women whom she felt inspired by, however. Indeed, her ultimate role model is her mom, who was in a relationship with the Goodfellas star from 1988 to 1996.
“Whenever I’m at a family gathering on my dad’s side, people would always talk about how much they love my mom and how memorable she was and how happy my dad was when he was with her,” she shared. “I want to be like that⊠I want to be remembered the way that people remember her.”
Despite being the daughter of a movie star and model, Airyn began paving her own way in the industry.
“I wasn’t brought up having a side part in one of dad’s movies or going to business meetings or attending premieres,” she explained. “My dad was very big on us finding our own sort of path. I would want [success] to happen on my own merit.”
In fact, Touki and the Oscar winnerâwho also shares kids Drena, 57, and Raphael, 48, with ex Diahnne Abbott, as well as son Elliot, 27, and daughter Helen, 12, with ex Grace Hightower and Gia, 2, with girlfriend Tiffany Chenâopted to keep their kids out of the spotlight until they were older.Â
“Obviously, no parent is perfect, but I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight,” Airyn reflected. “They wanted it very private. They have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.”Â
For a closer look at the Heat star’s sprawling family tree, keep reading.
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First Wife Diahnne Abbott
Robert De Niro met his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, while making Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, in which she had a bit part as the ticket taker at a porn theater Travis Bickle patronizes in the gritty 1976 classic.
They tied the knot April 28, 1976.
The couple also appeared together in Scorsese’s 1977 tortured-romance drama New York, New York and his 1982 satire The King of Comedy.
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Daughter Drena De Niro
The actor adopted Diahnne’s daughter Drena, born Sept. 3, 1971, when they got married.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Son Raphael De Niro
De Niro and Abbott’s son Raphael was born Nov. 9, 1976. Raphael later recalled the family moving from Los Angeles (where his father was born) to New York (the city his dad is most associated with) when he was about 10, telling The Real Deal it was a major “culture shock.”
Raphael’s parents divorced in 1988.
PATRICK MCMULLAN/PatrickMcMullan.com via Getty Images
Drena and Raphael
Drena, whose first Instagram post is a black-and-white snap of her as a child out to dinner with her parents and then-couple Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston (“at this point all I wonder is WTF was I doing there ???” she wrote), has remained in show business as an actor and producer.Â
Growing up, “it definitely wasn’t the typical family lifestyle,” she told Everything Zoomer, “but there was a lot of warmth, fun, craziness.” She described her father as “a non-judgmental, open-minded person, always accepting of what people feel their paths are.”
Raphael went into real estate, which also runs in the family. Per his website, he leads The De Niro Team at Douglas Elliman in Manhattan, and he’s a partner in TriBeCa’s Greenwich Hotel.Â
The 46-year-old shares three kids with ex-wife Claudine de Matos and has been married to stylist Hannah Carnes since March 2020.
Acknowledging his last name alone turned him into fodder for tabloid coverage, Raphael told The Real Deal, “I just try to keep my head down and keep my private life private.”
Grandson Leandro
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, Drena’s son with artist ex Carlos Rodriguez, died of a suspected overdose on July 2, 2023. He was 19.
AÂ 20-year-old woman was arrested two weeks later on federal drug distribution charges in connection with Leandro’s death, which his mother had quickly attributed to fentanyl-laced pills.
On Aug. 11, 2023, which would have been her son’s 20th birthday, Drena wrote on Instagram, “Thank you for the happiest and most profound 2 decades of my life, little angel. I hope you are at peace and your spirit is filled with joy today and always.”
De Niro called his grandson’s death a “shock,” telling People, “And I just then started thinking about all the things I could have, should have done maybe with him. I don’t know if that would’ve made a difference. And so that’s always playing through my mind. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Airyn De Niro/Instagram
Daughter Airyn De Niro With Toukie Smith
De Niro and model-actress Toukie Smith are parents to twins Julian and Airyn, born Oct. 20, 1995.Â
Airyn came out as a transgender woman in April 2025. She told Them Magazine that her journey also brought her closer to her racial identity.
“I think a big part of [my transition] is the influence Black women have had on me,” she said. “I think stepping into this new identity, while also being more proud of my Blackness, makes me feel closer to them in some way.”Â
As for who the actress aspires to be like? Her mother, of course.
“Whenever I’m at a family gathering on my dad’s side, people would always talk about how much they love my mom and how memorable she was and how happy my dad was when he was with her,” she shared. “I want to be like that⊠I want to be remembered the way that people remember her.”
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
Son Julian De Niro With Toukie Smith
While Airyn leads a private life, Julian is an actor who most recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony-nominated The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. In 2022 he played a young Barack Obama in the Showtime limited series The First Lady.
“For my kids, I tell them, ‘If you want to be an actor or you want to do this or that, that’s fine as long as you’re happy. Just don’t sell yourself short,'” De Niro told People in January 2020. “That’s the most I would sayâpush yourself a little more and reach for what you really think it is you want to do. Don’t be afraid.”
George Napolitano/FilmMagic
Son Elliot and Daughter Helen With Second Wife Grace Hightower
De Niro is dad to son Elliot, born March 18, 1998, and daughter Helen Grace, born via surrogate on Dec. 23, 2011, with second wife Grace Hightower.
He married the Precious actress on June 17, 1997. De Niro filed for divorce barely two years later, but they reconciled before the split was official and renewed their vows in 2004.
They again began divorce proceedings in 2018.
When promoting Silver Linings Playbook, in which he played a father of an adult son with bipolar disorder, De Niro opened up about having a child with special needs, telling Katie Couric in 2013, “I don’t like to get emotional, but I know exactly what [my character] goes through.” In 2016 he shared that Elliott has autism.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images for IHG Hotels & Resorts
Daughter Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro With Tiffany Chen
De Niro’s seventh child was born April 6, 2023.
CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King got to do the name-reveal honors on her show May 11. “How cute is this baby?” she said of then-1-month-old Gia. “Robert De Niro and his partner, that’s Tiffany Chen, are over the moon about this little girl.”
While the two-time Oscar winner admittedly doesn’t do the “heavy lifting,” he waxed rhapsodic about having a baby in the house.Â
“Everything that I’m consumed with or worried about just goes away when I look at her,” he told AARP. “It’s wondrous.”
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