EXPOSED! ROBERT DE NIRO’S SEX & DRUG SECRETS

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Hollywood icon Robert De Niro has won two Oscars and countless other honors. But he’s hiding a dark, secret past of drug and prostitution scandals, according to a blockbuster new tell-all.

Author Shawn Levy claims in “De Niro: A Life” that the star abused cocaine back in the ’80s, and blamed himself for the overdose death of pal John Belushi.

The actor also admitted that he was sexually involved with a porn actress who worked as a call girl in France, Shawn writes.

According to the book, due out Oct. 28, but obtained by The National ENQUIRER prior to release, De Niro, 71, began “living a lifestyle he was keen never to have revealed” while “he, (director Martin) Scorsese and the crowd around them were using drugs, especially cocaine.”

At the time, De Niro also “became friendly with John Belushi,” sharing many “boozy, cokey nights” with him at a West Hollywood nightclub, Shawn dishes.

Their wild times came to a head on March 5, 1982, when De Niro found Belushi in his Chateau Marmont bungalow with alleged drug dealer Cathy Smith.

The star went on to party at his own nearby suite, and then returned to Belushi’s place at 3 a.m., the tell-all alleges.

De Niro “let himself in, helped himself to a little bit of the cocaine displayed on a table, and left again,” Shawn writes.

When De Niro learned Belushi died that night, he was “horrified” because, according to Shawn, “Belushi had been experimenting with heroin in part because he wanted to play a punk rock musician in a movie and was imitating De Niro’s famed technique of immersing himself completely into his roles.”

When a pal reminded De Niro that he and Belushi had discussed actually shooting up heroin while filming, the author claims De Niro said: “Don’t say a word to me. Don’t say a word to anybody. You, me…we’ll put our heads together. But don’t talk to anybody.”

De Niro also became embroiled in a prostitution sting after French authorities found his name listed in the black book of a convicted call girl ring boss in 1998, claims Shawn.

One woman listed in the black book, English porn star Charmaine Sinclair, “told investigators that he had been her lover,” Shawn writes.De Niro didn’t deny the brunette’s claim, but testified before a judge in Paris that “there was no money transaction” between them.

De Niro denied any involvement in any alleged sex ring and said he had never paid for sex, “… and even if I had, it wouldn’t have been a crime.”

In an interview with a French newspaper, De Niro said, “I will never return to France.”The tawdry drama cost De Niro a job reading Pope John Paul II’s poetry for a CD project, according to the book.

“De Niro’s participation no longer seems such a good idea,” project coordinator Father Giuseppe Moscati has said. “It appears that the image we had of De Niro when we made the proposal is far from the truth.”