Robert De Niro orders his film festival to AXE movie linking MMR vaccine to autism just hours after actor said he backed it 'because of his autistic son'

Robert De Niro has reversed his much-criticized decision to screen a highly controversial film by a disgraced British doctor that attempts to link the MMR vaccine to autism.

The star came under fire Friday after announcing that he would screen Vaxxed: From Cover-up To Catastrophe at next month's Tribeca Film Festival in New York in the hope of starting a 'discussion' about it. He reversed his decision Saturday.

The 72-year-old film festival founder, whose son, Elliot, is autistic, said that he had watched the film with 'members of the scientific community' and Tribeca organizers and that it did not 'further the discussion that I had hoped for,' the Palm Beach Post wrote.  

Disgraced British doctor Andrew Wakefield directed the film that was axed from the festival. He is infamous for starting the MMR debate 18 years ago

In a personal statement Friday, the star had said, 'Grace and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined.' 

The child he was referencing is understood to be Elliot, while Grace is his wife of 18 years, Grace Hightower.

The statement continued: 'In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming.

'However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening Vaxxed.

‘I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for a conversation around the issue.’ 

However, he later said that after reviewing the film alongside Tribeca organizers and members of the scientific community, the decision to screen the movie had been reversed.

'We do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for,' he said. 

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Veteran star Robert De Niro said Friday he supported the film, Vaxxed, because he has a child with autism, and that he hoped it would contribute to a discussion on the topic. But on Saturday he reversed that decision

He continued: 'The Festival doesn't seek to avoid or shy away from controversy. However, we have concerns with certain things in this film that we feel prevent us from presenting it in the Festival program. We have decided to remove it from our schedule.' 

The documentary claims that US health authorities ‘sliced and diced’ data linking the triple jab for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) to rising autism rates. 

It was directed by former British doctor Andrew Wakefied, who began the MMR controversy 18 years ago with an article published in British medical journal The Lancet.

That report said that there was a link between a bowel disease, autism and the MMR jab, and kick-started a suspicion of vaccinations that, according to the Associated Press, led to immunization rates in the UK dropping from 92 percent to 73 percent, and as many as 125,000 US children not being immunized.

That triggered outbreaks of measles - a potentially deadly disease - across Europe and the US on a scale not seen in decades.

De Niro, pictured here with his autistic son Elliot (centre) and his wife Grace Hightower (right), said he watched Vaxxed with members of the scientific community and that it doesn't 'further' discussion on autism

Wakefield's article was savaged by critics, who questioned his methods and results, and he was found guilty of gross lapses of medical ethics by the UK's General Medical Council, which removed his doctor's license - the strongest punishment it can inflict.

The former doctor has always protested his innocence and the value of his research, and Vaxxed was his attempt to reignite the controversy.

In Vaxxed he claims the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention manipulated data, adding: ‘The CDC had known all along there was this MMR/autism risk.’

Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, England’s chief medical officer during the MMR scare, said: ‘Wakefield can’t appear to accept he has been wrong, wrong, wrong.’

The UK's Department of Health said: ‘The safety of MMR has been endorsed through numerous studies.’

De Niro previously chose to act in the film Silver Linings Playbook, in which he played the father of a man with bipolar disorder, because he responded to the character's concern for his son

De Niro has said previously that he decided to star in David O. Russell's film Silver Linings Playbook because he has a child with 'special needs.'

While promoting the film in February 2013, he teared up during an appearance on NBC's Today as he talked about why he chose to do the movie, in which he played the father of a bipolar man played by Bradly Cooper.

'If you’re a father, you certainly understand what it’s like to go through the worry about your kids, especially if they’ve got issues like Bradley’s character has,' he explained.

'Sometimes it can be overwhelming. It can be nightmarish and upsetting. There’s nothing much you can do but deal with it.'

De Niro and Hightower also have a young daughter Helen Grace, five, and the Raging Bull star also has four other children from previous relationships. 

The Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 13-24.