Why Robert De Niro swore he’d never again set foot in France: “I’m well beyond furious”

In late 1997 and early 1998, Robert De Niro spent several months in France shooting Ronin, the acclaimed John Frankenheimer action thriller. The production went through Paris, moved to the historic Arles Amphitheatre, and finished with stints in Cannes, La Turbie, and Villefranche. Unfortunately for De Niro, though, before the shoot even concluded, he’d sworn he’d never again set foot in the country after becoming caught up in a legal scandal that rocked him to his core.

It all started going pear-shaped for De Niro from almost the moment he touched down in Paris for the shoot. He was quickly swept up by authorities, who subjected him to nine hours of intense questioning in front of prosecutor Frederic Nguyen. The bewildered star was understandably shell-shocked but repeatedly denied any involvement in what Nguyen was investigating.

You see, Nguyen was on the trail of a high-class prostitution ring operating in Paris and had already jailed two suspects over it. De Niro’s name had been thrown into the fray in one of two ways, depending on which reports are to be believed. Either one of the prostitutes mentioned him being one of her clients, or his name was discovered in an address book found during the investigation. Whatever the case, De Niro categorically denied any involvement in the scandal.

The star’s lawyer, Georges Kiejman, soon went on the offensive, telling the French press, “I can categorically state—indeed Mr De Niro has authorised me to do so—that he has never in his life ever paid to have any woman.” He also accused the judge of breaking the law by allowing De Niro’s name to leak to the press in connection with the sordid case. In addition, the judge failed to issue him a summons, meaning he was illegally detained by the police.