Robert De Niro’s daughter Drena De Niro opens up about the heartbreaking loss of her son, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, and how profoundly the tragedy changed her life.
Nearly two years after his death, she shared new details about the moments leading up to it, her battle with drugs and the aftermath that still affects her today.
Leandro died in 2023 after unknowingly taking pills containing fentanyl.
Drena told him Page six that her son was trying to get help and didn’t fully understand what he had been exposed to.
“That was very sad for me because he wanted help,” she said.
“He knew he was in over his head. I don’t think he even knew why. I think he had been exposed to much harder drugs that he didn’t know about.”
Shortly after his death, she wrote on Instagram that “someone sold her pills with fentanyl that they knew were laced but still sold them to her.”
Months later, New York City’s chief medical examiner confirmed that the 19-year-old died from a deadly combination of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine.
In October, five people were arrested in connection with the case, but Drena admitted that the news was not easy to process.
She described it as “really strange” and “very bittersweet because you don’t feel happier.”
She hopes the legal process will lead to accountability, adding: “I hope they get some justice. If you’re going to sell drugs to young people, it doesn’t matter if you made it, whether you know it or not, you’re taking a risk.”
Even then, she shared that she didn’t want to destroy another young life, saying, “I’m not interested in ruining a 24-year-old’s life.”
Drena also reflected on her son’s personality and the bond they shared. “He was an amazing kid, he was very smart,” he said.
Losing him was instant devastation. He recalled the moment he found out and said, “This detective stood there and the whole world as he knew it collapsed.”
She talked about how close they were and how her son gave her a sense of identity beyond being Robert De Niro’s daughter.
“We were very close,” he said. She also had a special relationship with her famous grandfather, and she described him as “just this pure soul.”
This year, Drena and Robert launched the Leandro De Niro Rodríguez Foundation to support families affected by the fentanyl crisis and expand access to care.
She said part of her mission is to protect other families so they don’t feel the same pain she is suffering now.
“It was really painful and shocking and violating to have his story go so viral, to hear people’s horrible thoughts,” she said, explaining that she refuses to allow her legacy to be reduced to the headlines.
“It’s not going to be a horrible sentence.”
Their focus today is to keep Leandro’s story alive in a way that helps others and ensure that conscience and compassion prevail before the trial.
