09 July 2023 , 06:58
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Robert De Niro attended the funeral of his 19-year-old grandson on Friday.
The Goodfella's actor, 79, was joined by his longtime friends Christopher Walken, 80, Harvey Keitel, 84, and music executive Tommy Mottola. His girlfriend Tiffany Chen was also in attendance with their baby daughter Gia bundled close in a carrier.
Leandro died last week after taking fentanyl-laced pills at his $1million (£778k) Wall Street apartment. At the time his grandfather Robert explained he was "deeply distressed" at the news.
The teenager was found sitting in a chair beside white powder in his one-bedroom apartment on Sunday. His mother Drena - adopted by De Niro after he married her mother Diahnne Abbott in 1976 - announced his death on Monday.
The funeral took place at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The chapel is favoured by New York celebrities and has administered the ceremonies of stars including Judy Garland, Heath Ledger, John Lennon and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
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Robert De Niro with grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (left) and daughter Drena De Niro (Instagram)The family are expected to hold a graveside ceremony for Leandro at a cemetery in Valhalla, New York, where Robert's father is buried.
Before the service, De Niro headed to Carnegie Hall to pick up a friend before visiting a Suits Supply store near Madison Ave before heading back to the funeral home. Leandro was seen carried in a wooden casket by six pallbearers, wearing black suits and white gloves.
Back at the funeral home he was supported by his longtime collaborator Christopher Walken. The pair have been friends for decades since they first worked together on epic war drama The Deer Hunter in 1978 which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1979. They reunited on screen 41 years later for Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.
De Niro's Taxi Driver co-star and friend of 50 years Harvey Keitel also attended with his Canadian film director wife Daphna Kastner.
Robert De Niro, left, and his daughter Drena De Niro (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)Drena arrived at the funeral holding the hand of her ex-husband and Leandro's father Carlos Rodriguez. After announcing the death of her "beautiful sweet angel" on Monday she revealed the cause of death on Wednesday.
Drena wrote on Instagram: "Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him. So for all these people still f***ing around selling and buying this s***, my son is gone forever."
Leandro's official cause of death is still being investigated by police.
Announcing his death, she wrote: "I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly. You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life. I wish I was with you right now. I wish I was with you. 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.
"You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you. I'm so sorry my baby, I'm so sorry @carlosmare. Rest in Peace and Eternal Paradise my darling boy."