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De Niro Puts a Hit Out on Lawsuit

Mon., May. 21, 2007 8:12 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Years after beating cancer, Robert De Niro's prostate problems are still plaguing him.

The two-time Oscar winner moved Friday to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought against him by Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., which claims that De Niro failed to disclose that he had prostate cancer back in 2003 when the company signed on to insure the production of Hide and Seek.

Fireman's Fund, which paid Fox Entertainment Group more than $1.8 million to cover the costs of production delays incurred when De Niro had to take time out for treatment, accused the actor of misrepresenting the status of his health when he filled out a medical certificate on which he indicated that he had "never been diagnosed with or treated for" a disorder of, among other things, the prostate glands, according to the original complaint, which was filed Oct. 12, 2006.

Per court documents obtained by E! Online, De Niro is arguing that there are a variety of reasons as to why "this is a case that never should have been filed"—one of which being that De Niro did not find out that he had cancer until after he filled out that form. Upon finding out, he made a public announcement, "in part to raise awareness of this deadly disease." (View the court documents.)

Calling the lawsuit "irreparably defective," De Niro's legal camp says that there is no way Fireman's Fund can establish liability on the actor's part. The Goodfellas star was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Oct. 15, 2003, the motion states, five days after he underwent a gland biopsy and two days after he filled out the medical certificate.

De Niro also states that the lawsuit doesn't have wings because it was improperly served to him in the first place. In his motion he claims that court documents were placed on the windshield of a car in which he was a passenger while the vehicle was stopped in traffic.

Fireman's Fund argues in its complaint, however, that the biopsy constituted treatment for prostate cancer.

De Niro "failed to fully disclose information which was critical to our decision to offer insurance coverage," Fireman's Fund said in a statement issued Monday. "As a result, the film had to be postponed for four months, at a significant cost to the motion picture production company. Fireman's Fund paid the resulting claim in full, honoring its policy."

A hearing on De Niro's request is scheduled for June 18.

Hide and Seek, in which De Niro plays a widower whose young daughter (Dakota Fanning) seems to have acquired a murderous imaginary friend, came out in 2005.