LOS ANGELES:

Robert De Niro fought fire with fire and won. A Los Angeles judge on March 11 granted the actor’s request to toss a lawsuit filed against him by an insurance company that claimed De Niro intentionally withheld that he had prostate cancer before the insurer signed on to cover one of his films.

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co insured the production of 2003’s Hide and Seek, in which De Niro plays a mentally unravelling widower whose daughter takes solace in an evil imaginary friend.

Fireman’s Fund sued the star in October 2006, contending he wrongfully checked off a box indicating he had “never been diagnosed with or treated for” various conditions, including a diseased prostate, when he filled out his medical certificate.

Per the complaint, the company ended up shelling out $1.8 million to cover the cost of production delays incurred when De Niro had to take time out for treatment. — Agencies