Robert De Niro took the stage at Radio City Music Hall for the 72nd annual Tony Awards Sunday night, but CBS completely bleeped out his first words.
“F— Trump,” he said, referring to President Donald Trump.
De Niro threw his arms in the air defiantly as the crowd cheered and gave him a standing ovation.
“It’s no longer down with Trump,” he said. “It’s f— Trump.”
De Niro was introducing Bruce Springsteen, who is starring in a Broadway production of his own, which has sold out tickets for months.
“Bruce, you can rock the house like nobody else,” De Niro continued. “And even more important, in these perilous times, you rock the vote, always fighting for, in your own words, ‘truth, transparency, and integrity in government.’ Boy, do we need that now.”
Springsteen laughed as he sat down at the piano to play.
When hosts Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban came back onstage, they were dressed in each other’s characters in the musicals they were in – with her in a beard and him in a short waitress outfit.
“After De Niro, CBS told us to do something drastic, so here we are,” Groban joked.
