Robert De Niro has issued a statement following the death of his 19-year-old grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez.
“I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo,” the Oscar-winning actor said in a statement to People on Monday. “We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone. We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo.”
The 79-year-old’s daughter, actor Drena De Niro, announced the news in an emotional Instagram post on Sunday.
“I don’t know how to live without you but I’ll try to go on and spread the love and light that you so made me feel in getting to be your mama,” she wrote. “You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you.”
A cause of death was not disclosed.
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez’s father, Carlos Mare, wrote in the comments that “words aren’t enough to express the joy he gave us or the loss we now endure with our families and friends.”
Drena De Niro is the eldest of Robert De Niro’s seven children. He adopted her when he married her mother, actor Diahnne Abbott. Robert De Niro also had a son, Raphael De Niro, with Abbott, whom he divorced in 1988.
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez appeared alongside his mother in the 2018 film “A Star Is Born,” starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
