Robert De Niro Says He ‘Loves and Supports’ Daughter Airyn as She Comes Out as Trans: ‘Don’t Know What the Big Deal Is’

Robert De Niro is supporting his newly out daughter.

The Oscar winner, 81, tells PEOPLE he says nothing has changed about his love for his daughter Airyn, who came out as transgender on Tuesday, April 29 in an interview with Them.

"I loved and supported Aaron as my son, and now I love and support Airyn as my daughter. I don't know what the big deal is," he told PEOPLE in a statement. "I love all my children."

Airyn is one of Robert’s seven kids. Her mother, actress Toukie Smith, shares Airyn and twin brother Julian with the actor.

Airyn, 29, said in her interview that she is “stepping into this new identity."

“There’s a difference between being visible and being seen,” Airyn told Them. “I’ve been visible. I don’t think I’ve been seen yet.”

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Airyn also candidly discussed how she felt like a “late bloomer” and dealt with body dysmorphia.

“I was always told I was too much of something or not enough of something growing up: Too big, not skinny enough. Not Black enough, not white enough. Too feminine, not masculine enough," she shared. "It was never just, ‘You’re just right, just the way you are.’ ” 

Eventually, she decided to begin hormone therapy last November. “I’d want to hopefully be an inspiration for at least one other person like me who is Black, who is queer, who’s not a size extra small,” said Airyn. “I’d want to see more trans women, more Black women who are maybe bigger-bodied or don’t fit the mold of super thin or heroin chic.”

She also shared that she's studying to become a mental health counselor, and is working to provide mental health advocacy and support to people of color and queer people.

"My dad was very big on us finding our own sort of path," she said in response to claims she was a "nepo baby."

"I would want [success] to happen on my own merit," Airyn added. “Obviously, no parent is perfect, but I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight. They have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.”

Robert is also the father of daughter Drena, 53, and son Raphael, 48, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Diahnne Abbott. The actor is also father to son Elliot, 27, and daughter Helen Grace, 13, with his ex-wife, Grace Hightower. More recently, he welcomed Gia, 2, with girlfriend Tiffany Chen in April 2023.