Regarding Robert de Niro.

The article in The Independent Online says:

Six people were being charged in France for procuring and complicity in procuring girls and women for prostitution. The court in Paris was hearing evidence in November 1998. Prostitution is legal in France, but procurement is not.

The accused catered to wealthy and high profile people. The French government allowed the procurement to happen and tried to stop the investigation. The government wanted the investigation stopped because French politicians and Middle East arms customers were among the clients of the traffickers.

The women trafficked were as young as fifteen. They were found by the accused near nightclubs and casting agencies. They were lured to have revealing pictures taken as a way to find acting work. The photos were then used as blackmail or the girls were simply abducted. The girls were tricked or coerced into sex with the procurers clients, then sold to other traffickers.

Robert de Niro was interrogated as a witness and client of this trafficking ring.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-sex-scandal-that-wouldnt-lie-down-1185127.html