By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Robert DeNiro earned a mix of cheers and jeers for his bizarre comedy routine during an acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards Sunday night.
The Native New Yorker, whose career has veered from tightly-wound mobsters and madmen in "Goodfellas" and "Taxi Driver" to a tightly-wound parody of himself in comedies like "Analyze This" and "Meet the Fockers," used his speech to take jabs at issues surrounding the immigration debate when he was awarded with the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award Sunday night.
"More Hollywood Foreign Press members would have been here, but they were deported just before the show. Along with most of the waiters and Javier Bardem," DeNiro said after being presented the award by Matt Damon, earning groans from the audience.
"And I hope you all have your papers in order, because Homeland Security will be checking them right after they finish full-body scans of Megan Fox," DeNiro added.
The comedy routine may have rankled the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press who voted to give him this year's award, but DeNiro fans raved about his rant on Twitter after the speech.
"Robert DeNiro= Best acceptance speech ever!" ozgenre Tweeted.
"Best speech goes to Robert DeNiro #goldenglobes. Heart felt and funny!" Twitter user Cazza7 added.
DeNiro wasn't the only New Yorker in the spotlight last night. Steve Buscemi took home a trophy for best actor for his work in Martin Scorsese's New York-based series "Boardwalk Empire," which also won the award for Best Series. Natalie Portman took home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her grueling performance in the film "Black Swan." Portman also caused a stir for her trip down the red carpet wearing a pink-and-red strapless dress that set off her pregnant belly bump.
Al Pacino also took home a Golden Globe award for best actor in a miniseries or TV movie for his HBO docudrama on the life of assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian in "You Don't Know Jack." And Claire Danes took home the best actress in a miniseries or TV movie for her HBO show "Temple Grandin" on the life of an autistic woman.
Although only a handful of New Yorkers received Golden Globe awards, many more were nominated. In December, Mayor Bloomberg made a special effort to credit the city and its actors after the nominations were announced.
"When it comes to film and television production, given New York City's unparalleled setting and customer service, we have to ask: if you can make it here, why make it anywhere (else)?" he said.
