Celebrity News

Nelson Mandela watched De Niro films in jail

Nelson Mandela is a Robert De Niro fan.

At Thursday’s Cinema Society premiere of “Long Walk to Freedom” at Alice Tully Hall, Harvey Weinstein recalled bringing Mandela to a party where he thanked De Niro and Eddie Murphy, saying he watched all their films in jail.

“So you never know who’s watching your movie,” Weinstein cracked to a crowd that included Ronnie Wood, Tony Bennett, Rosario Dawson and Gayle King.

Zindzi, Mandela’s daughter with second wife Winnie, introduced the movie, saying, “It wasn’t easy growing up with parents like mine . . . When my father left I was just a girl, and when he came home I was a mother of three.”

Zindzi says she’s happy with Idris Elba’s portrayal of the South African giant.

“My father is somebody who is very modest; he doesn’t think of himself as anybody great,” she told us. “He doesn’t need to covet attention, and Idris, I find, is like that.” Guests later headed to a ­Mercedes-Benz-sponsored party at Stone Rose Lounge.