When I first heard this story I assumed that Woody Harrelson was exaggerating. That’s why it took me a couple of days to cover it, I hadn’t read the full story. People Magazine has corroborating details and I now believe that Robert De Niro, 83, has 18 dogs at his house, which must be chaotic, right?!
The background is that Woody spoke with Skyler Gisondo for Interview Magazine. Woody and Skyler know each other from working on Brothers on Apple TV+ (which I’ve heard is decent). The piece is meant to raise Skyler’s profile, who stars in Primetime and whom I know from his work on The Righteous Gemstones. He can act! Skyler talked about working with Robert De Niro in Focker In-Law and that’s when Woody dropped the detail about De Niro’s massive dog pack. They also bond over their love of surfing and remember getting high together. Here’s some of what they said with more at the source:
On Robert De Niro’s 18 dogs
HARRELSON: I just was hanging out with Bob, he’s such a sweet—GISONDO: The sweetest man.
HARRELSON: He has eighteen dogs.
GISONDO: Is that true?
HARRELSON: Yeah. We went over to his house here in New York, and nine dogs came to the door. They’re these little dogs, they get to do whatever they want. Thinking about Bob De Niro, you don’t think of him inside of this world with a zillion dogs.
On getting high together
GISONDO: I remember once you said to me when we were at The Woods—I don’t know, we can cut that if you don’t want it, but you said something to me about—HARRELSON: The Woods, you mean the world’s most beautiful dispensary on Santa Monica in WeHo?
GISONDO: [Laughs] In Santa Monica. We were there that night, and, I haven’t even talked to you about this after, but I don’t smoke weed for real, for real. So going into that night, I was like, “I know if I smoke in a public setting like this, I’m going to freak out.” But as soon as I got there and you handed me a joint, that all went out the window, because as you know, you’re on the Mount Rushmore of the coolest people in the world to accept a joint from. It’s like you and Willie Nelson. I took the tiniest baby hit, and within ten minutes, I was as stoned as I’ve ever been in my entire life. I was sitting there freaking out, and you said to me, “You got to ride the boat, brother. You got to ride the boat.” And I’ve had that mantra. It’s something I’ve said to myself in press when the days get long and I feel myself starting to zone out a little bit. I literally, I think, “You just got to ride the boat, brother. You just got to ride the boat.”
People Magazine reports that De Niro said, on a 2022 podcast, that he has “a bunch of little dogs. I don’t even know all their names” and admitted that he has more than 10! If he doesn’t know their names they must mostly be his partner Tiffany Chen’s dogs. (They also have a three-year-old daughter, Gia, and have been together since at least 2021.)
How do you even care for five or more dogs? I’m reminded of an early 2000s reality show, It’s Me or the Dog, where a British dog expert helped couples with relationship problems having to do with pet care. Most of these people were not compatible in basic ways and having pets together did not help. There was a body building couple on Long Island who did not take care of their tiny dogs. The dogs would do their business in the house and that was disgusting. Are all of De Niro and Chen’s dogs housetrained? I assume they have a doggie door and/or a full time carer for the dogs. That’s just an astronomical amount of work. You know they have multiple housekeepers at a bare minimum. Rich people, and their dogs, live however they want.
Photos credit: Avalon.red, Getty and via YouTube
We have always had two cats (Scottish Folds) but when our senior passed last year I decided to adopt two Kuwaiti rescues (both are Scottish Folds) in January w/flight arriving in March. Then the Iran war started and all flights out of Kuwait ceased. I was committed to getting our babies but didn’t want to be without two cats and with the uncertainty of the war, we truly didn’t know how or if we would ever get our rescues so I got a Scottish Fold kitten from a breeder. Fast forward to mid August we FINALLY got our rescues so now we have four cats: a 12 year old and three cats under 1.5 years old. It’s complete chaos in our little bungalow but I wouldn’t change a thing. I just love our little “catmmunity” and getting to know all their different personalities.
I’m not gonna lie: if I was rich I’d probably have a sanctuary for cats and dogs. Or I’d just donate millions to rescues, especially the ones out of Kuwait who are running a very costly and complex organization, saving endless cats and dogs from Friday Market and the streets. I just love animals so much. I think 18 dogs if you have the resources and time to manage them would be amazing.
As we say here in New York, Bobby D is a f*cking saint and real patriot. May God bless him and keep him. He should get to do whatever he wants. He’s earned it. I’m sure he’s got staff to help maintain the dogs and his house. If I could afford it, I’d probably have a house full of cats.
When I hear 18 dogs all I can think is that is a lot of dog poop. Plus how do you give each individual dog time and care? I get that he’s rich and probably has people who handle this but still. I have 5 cats ( 3 are strays that found me ) and I am constantly scooping, feeding and cleaning up after them. They are a lot of company and give back more than they get. I just can’t imagine that many dogs.
That’s what always concerns me when people have large numbers of any pet, is each animal getting the attention and care they need and want?
If I was a multimillionaire, I’d probably have a small pack of dogs and a dozen cats. 🤷🏾♀️