This image was lost some time after publication.

Some accounts place Robert De Niro's recent defection from CAA to Endeavor as a move at least a decade in the making. That inevitability didn't lessen the sting for an anonymous CAA operative, however, who chimed at Deadline Hollywood Daily on Thursday with a poetic reality check entitled, "Why Did Bobby Leave Us?"

They promised they could turn back time. They promised they could get him 20m a picture.

DeNiro had a choice ten or so years ago. He could either go the Nicholson route - very selective, very particular, protect the brand - or go out sending himself up in tripe like Analyze This, which made money but turned him into that "old psycho guy." ...

Bobby blames everybody but himself for the way he's squandered his career, and refused lots of quality pictures because they wouldn't give him producer credit.

Good luck in the Hotel Business, pal.

The raw bile percentage of the rest — ripping up the Tribeca Film Festival, his persona non grata status among younger filmgoers — suggests the note really did emerge from within the Death Star. In fact, we suspect a memo pushing CAA's interoffice contest "500 Words or Less on Why We Won't Miss Bob De Niro" is floating around someone's inbox; we'd love to have a look if anyone will pass it along, or at least we'd like to know what the seething minions were playing for. "Star commenter" status on Nikki Finke's blog hardly seems worth the effort.