Robert De Niro says he regrets banning anti-vax film

Robert De Niro has once again come under fire for breathing life into the notion that vaccines cause autism.

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The Godfather star opened up on US Talk show TODAY about the regret he feels about pulling the screening of “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” from his Tribeca Film Festival.

Robert De Niro gets emotional on TODAY. Photo: NBC

“I think the movie is something that people should see. There was a backlash which I haven't fully explored, and I will,” an emotional De Niro explained on TODAY. “(But) I didn't want it to start affecting the festival in ways that I couldn't see.”

The Oscar-winner made the snap judgement at the end of March when some filmmakers threatened to bail on the festival unless the controversial documentary was banned.

De Niro on TODAY. Photo: NBC

De Niro, 72, may have yanked the film but is still defending it and says he has some regret.

“I, as a parent of a child who has autism, am concerned, and I wanna know the truth,” he said. “And, I’m not anti-vaccine — I want safe vaccines."

The legendary actor, whose 18-year-old son, Elliot, has autism, wants the media to help investigate the controversial argument that vaccinating children increases their chances of acquiring the developmental disorder.

De Niro on TODAY. Photo: NBC

“Nobody seems to wanna address that — or, they say they’ve addressed it and it’s a closed issue,” he said. “But it doesn’t seem to be, because there are many people who will come out and say, ‘No, I saw my kid change like overnight, I saw what happened and I should have done something and I didn’t.’”