Robert De Niro got bestie Martin Scorsese in on the “goodnight, sweet dreams” prank that gripped TikTok starting in May. The gag has men calling their friends before bed time just to wish them a nice sleep, and it left the 82-year-old Taxi Driver director totally confused.
Martin’s daughter Francesca got in on the prank, filming her father for TikTok as she’s been doing for years now.
Robert De Niro “pranks” Martin Scorsese
The prank video, posted to the @tribeca account on Thursday, shows Martin in his office asking if it was all a “trend thing” while Francesca films and laughs. Then it cuts to three minutes earlier when Robert called from his couch.
“Calling to say goodnight,” said De Niro as he laughed. “And sleep tight.”
@tribeca two legends, one trend #fyp #goodnightbro #martinscorsese #robertdeniro @Francesca ♬ original sound – tribeca
“Thank you,” Martin replied.
The two then jumped on FaceTime so that De Niro could show Scorsese what he was watching on TV.
“Sleep well, dear,” said De Niro as he finished the call.
“Okay, thank you, my love, bye,” answered Scorsese before hanging up in stitches.
Francesca continued filming her father as he summarized what had just happened, confused as any octogenarian would be with these developments.
“No, he calls four times, you finally pick up and realize it’s him and he goes, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ Fine. ‘Right, okay, see you tomorrow,’” he ranted. “The whole thing, big mystery! He just took it into his head he had to say goodnight today.”
The youth on TikTok thoroughly enjoyed the version of the prank between two elderly men instead of dudes their own age, and especially with these two, who are long-time friends.
“Scorsese & DeNiro participating in tiktok trends — I’m dead,” said @dystopika1.
“Non-toxic masculinity,” admired @tammymetzgermortgage.
Origins of the “goodnight bro” prank
The boys started calling each other just to say goodnight in mid-May 2025. Not accustomed to getting the kind of attention from homeboys that usually only comes from their mothers, the reactions are the best part.
A lot of the prank targets become angry when they find out the reason for the call rather than playing along like Scorsese did. In one viral video, TikToker @marianwassefdavis films her husband trying this out, and his friend can not grasp the concept.
@marianwassefdavis My husband called his friends and said goodnight to them trend 🤣 #goodnight #friend #homeboys #funny #comedian #trending #viral #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Marian Davis
“I was getting in bed, I was just calling to tell you goodnight,” said the user’s husband.
“F*ck you mean you were calling to tell me goodnight?” his friend demanded.
“Sh*t bro, chill,” the prankster replied, adding, “sweet dreams.”
The friend refuses to believe that all the caller wanted was to say goodnight. The prankster responds with similar confusion as though his friend is the weird one. This goes on for over a minute before he calls his next buddy and gets similar results.
This trend made it all the way to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
@seahawks This call was made at 12:28pm 🤣 #nfl #football #seahawks #goodnight #trend #jsn #prank ♬ Lovable and funny animals – ALOHI STYLE
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