GOP candidate Newt Gingrich called on President Barack Obama and demanded an apology for the “White First Lady” joke made by Robert De Niro at an Obama fundraiser on Monday.

According to the reports, Robert De Niro said it was “too soon” for a white First Lady, while speaking at a dinner he hosted in New York City to raise funds for the re-election campaign. The Republican presidential candidate Gingrich denounced his comments and said that it is “inexcusable.”

“What De Niro said last night was inexcusable and the president should apologize for him,’ Newt Gingrich told supporters in Shreveport, Louisiana. He added, “I do want to say one thing, both on behalf of my wife and on behalf of Karen Santorum and on behalf of Ann Romney, I think that Robert De Niro’s wrong. I think the country is ready for a new first lady and he doesn’t have to describe it in racial terms.”

Robert De Niro and his wife Grace Hightower hosted the dinner attended by around 90 Obama supporters at the Greenwich Hotel, which the actor owns. The event was attended by First Lady Michelle Obama. Before addressing the supporters, De Niro said, “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?”

A guest at the event, shouted “No!’, to which Robert De Niro added: ‘Too soon, right?’

The White House agreed with Newt Gingrich, saying: “We believe the joke was inappropriate.”

The GOP candidate Newt Gingrich added that the comments made by the “Taxi Driver” star divide the country and that “everybody in the country ought to hold the president accountable when somebody at his event says something as utterly, totally unacceptable as Robert De Niro said last night.”

Newt Gingrich said that while he would prefer his wife Callista as First Lady, he would be “very proud and very honored” to have Ann Romney or Karen Santorum in the White House.

“These are fine ladies, as is Michelle Obama, but this is not about the First Lady, it is about the president and that is where De Niro missed the whole point. He should be ashamed of himself,” Newt Gingrich concluded.

Looks like there will be no more “Eye of the Tiger” anthem for the Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. The composer of the 1982 hit song which is best known as the theme for the movie “Rocky III” filed a lawsuit against Newt Gingrich to stop the contender from using the song in his campaign events.

Rude Music Inc., the Palatine-based music publishing company owned by Frank Sullivan, who also composed the song “Eye of the Tiger” was the one who filed the lawsuit at the federal court of Chicago on Monday. The lawsuit states that as early as 2009, Newt Gingrich has been using the song during rallies and public events, such as the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2009, 2010 and 2011 as well as several stops in Iowa. Additionally, Newt Gingrich also appeared in Internet videos posted by the American Conservative Union, which also plays the same background song. The Washington-based conservative group and Newt Gingrich’s campaign organization, Newt 2012, are also named as defendants.

Detailing the lawsuit in a five-page complaint by Rude Music Inc., the music publishing company pointed out that Newt Gingrich is well aware of copyright laws, stating that he is even listed as author or co-author of more than 40 published works and has earned $500,000 to $1 million from Gingrich Productions, the  company which sells his written work, documentaries and audio books. Hence, Newt Gingrich knows that he should have asked the permission of Frank Sullivan or his company before using “Eye of the Tiger” in his events.

Moreover, the complaint also notes Newt Gingrich’s dictum of the “Stop Online Piracy Act” during a previous debate in South Carolina. Newt Gingrich suggested the law was futile because “We have a patent office, we have a copyright law. If a company finds it has genuinely been infringed upon, it has the right to sue.”

The lawsuit asks for an injunction to prohibit Newt Gingrich from using the song, as well as damages and attorneys’ fees which will be determined by the court.

The No.1 pump-up hit “Eye of the Tiger” was used as the background track to Rocky Balboa’s training practices in “Rocky III.”