Robert De Niro Defends ‘The Irishman’ as Critics Challenge Former Delco Mobster’s Hoffa Claim

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Image via The Irishman's Facebook page.

Robert De Niro is pushing back against criticism that Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is inaccurate.

De Niro plays former Delaware County mobster Frank Sheeran, who has claimed he killed Jimmy Hoffa in a Detroit home.

“We’re not saying we’re telling the actual story,” De Niro told IndieWire. “We’re telling our story.”

The screenplay is based on I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, who interviewed Sheeran about his role in Hoffa’s disappearance.

FBI members and investigative reporters have denied Sheeran’s claim.

Hoffa’s body was never discovered and his blood wasn’t found in the house where Sheeran says he shot him.

Hoffa investigator Dan Moldea warned De Niro not to make The Irishman because Sheeran’s story is not true.

Through it all, De Niro stands by the film and his role in it.

“I know one thing — I know all the stuff that Frank said, the descriptions of the places he was at, the way he talked, that’s all real,” he said. “The way he describes what happened to Hoffa is a very plausible thing to me. I’d love to hear what actually happened to him. But this made a lot of sense to me.”

Read more of Robert De Niro’s comments at IndieWire here.

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