Robert De Niro’s daughter Drena De Niro is opening up about the heartbreaking loss of her son, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, and how deeply the tragedy changed her life.
Nearly two years after his death, she shared new details about the moments leading up to it, his battle with drugs and the aftermath that still affects her today.
Leandro died in 2023 after unknowingly taking fentanyl-laced pills.
Drena told 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 to me because he wanted help,” she said.
“He knew he was 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 passing, she wrote on Instagram that “someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him.”
Months later, the New York City Chief Medical Examiner confirmed 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 the news wasn’t simple to process.
She described it as “really strange” and “so bittersweet because you don’t feel any happier.”
She hopes the legal process leads to accountability, adding, “I’m hoping they do get some justice. If you’re going to sell drugs to young people, it doesn’t matter whether you made it, whether you know or didn’t know, you’re taking a chance.”
Even then, she shared she didn’t want to destroy another young life, saying, “I’m not interested in ruining some 24-year-old’s life.”
Drena also reflected on her son’s personality and the bond they shared. “He was just an amazing kid, he was so smart,” she said.
Losing him was instant devastation. She recalled the moment she found out, saying, “This detective stood there, and the whole world as I knew it collapsed.”
She spoke about how close they were and how her son gave her a sense of identity beyond being Robert De Niro’s daughter.
“We were extremely close,” she said. He had a special relationship with his famous grandfather too, and she described him as “just this pure soul.”
This year, Drena and Robert launched the Leandro De Niro Rodriguez Foundation to support families impacted by the fentanyl crisis and expand access to care.
She said part of her mission is to protect other families from feeling the same pain she carries now.
“It was really painful and shocking and violating for his story to go so viral, to hear people’s horrible thoughts,” she said, explaining that she refuses to let his legacy be reduced to headlines.
“He’s not going to be some horrible sound bite.”
Her focus today is keeping Leandro’s story alive in a way that helps others, and ensuring that awareness and compassion come before judgment.
