Meet Tiffany Chen: Everything We Know About Robert De Niro's Girlfriend

Forget the father, we're all about the mother.

Robert De Niro made headlines this week when he confirmed that he had become a dad for the seventh time at the age of 79. The Oscar winner shared the happy news with CBS Mornings' Gayle King on May 11, revealing that he and girlfriend Tiffany Chen welcomed a baby girl named Gia Virginia Chen De Niro.

"She weighed eight pounds, six ounces, when she was born on April 6," King said, while also revealing the first photo of Gia. "How cute is this baby? Robert De Niro and his partner, that's Tiffany Chen, are over the moon about this little girl."

And, after a phone call with the About My Father star, King shared that "this baby was planned" and that Gia was "brought here by love."

But when did De Niro and Chen's romance begin? 

De Niro nor Chen have ever publicly commented on their relationship prior to announcing Gia's birth, though they have been spotted together multiple times.

Following his divorce from his wife Grace Hightower after more than 20 years together in 2018, De Niro was first photographed with Chen in August 2021 when the couple was on a vacation in the South of France. 

However, the Raging Bull actor and Chen, a martial arts professional, first crossed paths years earlier.

Chen had a small role as the tai chi instructor for De Niro's character in Nancy Meyers' 2015 movie The Intern, which she also served as a consultant on for the scenes featuring the Chinese martial art. 

The daughter of Kung Fu Grandmaster William C.C. Chen, Chen has an impressive resume from her time as a competitive athlete, winning world titles and being inducted into the magazine Inside Kung Fu's Hall of Fame in 2011.

"I never practiced tai chi with the intention of looking to fight," she told the publication at the time. "I learned the form, I learned some push hands and then I started competing in push hands."

While not much is known about Chen, De Niro's About My Father co-star Kim Cattrall gushed that she is "a beautiful woman."

"She came to the set once with her family and watched filming," Cattrall told Extra, "She was gorgeous and sweet. I'm happy for both of them."

Keep reading to learn more about De Niro's complete family tree...

Robert De Niro met his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, while making Taxi Driver, in which Diahnne had a bit part as the ticket taker at a porn theater Travis Bickle patronizes in the gritty 1976 classic and they tied the knot April 28, 1976.

He adopted Diahnne's daughter Drena, now 52, when they got married.

Their son Raphael was born Nov. 9, 1976. He later recalled the family moving from Los Angeles (where his dad was born) to New York (the city his dad is most associated with) when he was about 10, telling The Real Deal it was a major "culture shock."

The actors divorced in 1988.

Drena, whose first Instagram post is a black-and-white snap of her as a child out to dinner with her parents and then-couple Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston ("at this point all I wonder is WTF was I doing there ???"), has remained in show business as an actor and producer. 

Growing up, "it definitely wasn't the typical family lifestyle," she told Everything Zoomer, "but there was a lot of warmth, fun, craziness." She described her father as "a non-judgmental, open-minded person, always accepting of what people feel their paths are."

Raphael went into real estate, which also runs in the family. Per his website, he leads The De Niro Team at Douglas Elliman in Manhattan, and he's a partner in TriBeCa's Greenwich Hotel. 

The 46-year-old shares three kids with ex-wife Claudine de Matos and has been married to stylist Hannah Carnes since March 2020.

Acknowledging his last name alone turned him into fodder for tabloid coverage, Raphael told The Real Deal, "I just try to keep my head down and keep my private life private."

Drena is mom to Leandro De Niro Rodriguez with artist ex Carlos Rodriguez.

Leandro, born in 2003, ventured into the family business and appeared with Drena in 2018's A Star Is Born.

In July 2023, Drena announced Leandro passed away at the age of 19 after a suspected overdose. An arrest has since been made in connection with his death.

The actor and model Touki Smith are parents to twin sons Julian and Aaron, born Oct. 20, 1995.

Robert and Touki split up in 1996 after about eight years together.

While Aaron leads a private life, Julian is an actor who most recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony-nominated The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. In 2022 he played a young Barack Obama in the Showtime limited series The First Lady.

"For my kids, I tell them, 'If you want to be an actor or you want to do this or that, that's fine as long as you're happy. Just don't sell yourself short,'" the Meet the Parents star told People in January 2020. "That's the most I would say—push yourself a little more and reach for what you really think it is you want to do. Don't be afraid."

He also shares son Elliot, born March 18, 1998, and daughter Helen Grace, born via surrogate in December 2011, with Grace Hightower.

They married in 1997 and the actor filed for divorce barely two years later, but they reconciled before the split was official and renewed their vows in 2004.

They again began divorce proceedings in 2018.

When promoting Silver Linings Playbook, in which he played a father of an adult son with bipolar disorder, he opened up about having a child with special needs, telling Katie Couric in 2013, "I don't like to get emotional, but I know exactly what [my character] goes through." In 2016 he shared that Elliott has autism.

The actor's seventh child was born April 6, 2023.

CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King got to do the name-reveal honors on her show May 11. "How cute is this baby?" she said about the photo of the 1-month-old. "Robert De Niro and his partner, that's Tiffany Chen, are over the moon about this little girl."

The 79-year-old first told ET Canada that he'd become a father for the seventh time.

"My kids disagree with me at times, and they're respectful," he shared when asked if his children considered him a cool dad. "My daughter [Helen], she's 11, she gives me grief sometimes and I argue with her. I adore her, but, you know. And my youngest now, that'll be more to come. But that's what it is."

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