Fact Check: Did Robert De Niro sue Elon Musk for $100M after alleged Oscars 'ban'?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and billionaire Elon Musk have often created headlines with their differing political views, with the actor being a critic of President Donald Trump and the tech businessman an ally.
In March 2025, a claim went viral on various social media platforms that De Niro had sued Musk for $100 million after the latter’s statements about the actor allegedly resulted in the Academy banning and removing the ‘Taxi Driver’ star from all Oscar nominations.
While the alleged altercation has supposedly gone to the legal path, questions also arose about the veracity of the claim. So, is it true that the Hollywood veteran has sued the X boss for his alleged statement? Let’s find out.
Claim: Robert De Niro sued Elon Musk for $100M after tech billionaire’s remarks cost him Oscars nominations
In March, social media sites such as Blusky, X, Facebook, and Threads were rife with articles claiming a legal feud between Robert De Niro, 81, and Elon Musk, 53.
The rumor claimed that De Niro sued Musk for $100 million after Musk's remarks about him allegedly led to his "ban" from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the removal of all his Oscar nominations in 2025.
One of the major proponents of the theory was a Facebook post (archived) from March 6, titled, "BREAKING: Robert De Niro Sues Elon Musk For 100 Million Dollars After Elon's Remarks Got Him Banned And Removed From All 2025 Oscars Nominations!"
The post has since then received more than 44K engagements and 13K comments. The cover image featured a collage of ‘The Godfather II’ actor and an image of the Oscar statuettes featuring a large red cross.
Another early post that propagated the theory was from March 4, when the Threads account of @entertainment.newsdaily promoted a similar rumor, Snopes reported.
Fact Check: Robert De Niro did not sue Elon Musk
With both true and false information spreading equally on the internet at the same speed, it becomes imperative to check the truthfulness of a viral claim.
While the alleged legal feud between Robert De Niro and Elon Musk has gained considerable traction on social media, further investigation revealed that the claim is untrue.
Multiple searches on Google and Yahoo! revealed that the veteran Hollywood star has not sued the PayPal founder over his claims.
Moreover, the social media account @entertainment.newsdaily has previously propagated false rumors about Musk and other important figures from the political and entertainment spheres of America as well.
The rumor—possibly originating from a story from amazingtoday.net—claimed that the alleged feud started when Trump ally Musk called De Niro “a fake moral man” and called on the Oscars "to eliminate those who only know how to preach."
Musk’s alleged tweet was reported at the heels of 'The Irishman’ star’s purported criticism of the business tycoon.
As reported by Snopes, though Musk never called De Niro “a fake moral man,” he once took to his X account to claim De Niro "is out of touch with the people," and asked, "How did De Niro survive Trump's first term? Must be a miracle."
