When Kimmel asked if he was threatening Goldberg, De Niro replied, “I would never threaten Miss Goldstein. I was just teaching a lesson about consequences.”

From there, the actor’s profanity-laced performance drew huge laughs and headlines. “What the f—k did you just say to me? I am the f–king FCC. I can f–king say whatever the f–k I want. Look, it’s just me, Jimmy, the chairman of the FCC, gently suggesting that you gently shut the f–k up.”

“Speech, it ain’t free no more. We’re charging by the word now,” De Niro said, adding, “Like if you want to say something nice about the president’s beautiful, thick, yellow hair…that’s free. But if you want to do a joke like he’s so fat he needs two seats on the Epstein jet, that’s gonna cost you.”

De Niro’s tongue-in-cheek defense of Kimmel was far from the only show of support from Hamptons residents. Southampton’s Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos praised their friend on ABC’s Live! on Sept. 24.

“We know him personally and when I tell you he’s one of the kindest, most generous people that I know. Cares about his family, takes care of his crew, his staff, everybody. He really, really cares,” Consuelos said.

“And his statements last night, I think, were on point. He understands both sides, he was very humble in his speech,” Consuelos continued. “One thing we can all agree on as a country is that the First Amendment is very important.”

“And I have to tell you… even we are constantly in a position where we are checking what we’re about to say… because we’ve come to this inflection point where no matter what you say, somebody is upset,” Ripa added. “I have a right to speak and you have a right to say horrible things about me on Instagram.”