Background
Rob Reiner was an American actor, director, and political activist. His credits include This Is Spinal Tap , The Princess Bride , When Harry Met Sally... , Stand by Me , and A Few Good Men . [1] Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer, producer, and LGBTQ rights advocate. [2] Rob and Michele married in 1989 and had three children. [3] [1] Rob also had an older adopted daughter, Tracy, whose mother was his former wife, Penny Marshall. [1]
Rob was 78 and Michele was 70 [a] at the time of their deaths. [3]
Nick Reiner
Nicholas 'Nick' Reiner (born September 14, 1993) [4] is the second of three children: he has an older brother, Jake, and a younger sister, Romy. [5] He was born and raised in Los Angeles. [6] He attended Wildwood, a private school in West Los Angeles. [7] Reiner has a GED credential but decided not to attend college. [6]
Before his arrest, Nick Reiner had discussed long-running substance abuse problems in interviews and podcasts, including periods in and out of treatment beginning in adolescence. [8] The Irish Times , summarizing prior public accounts, reported that he estimated he entered drug treatment eighteen times as a teenager, and spoke about addiction to heroin and cocaine. [9] Rob Reiner talked how he connected to the memoir Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction , which he felt had educated him about his son's situation. [10]
In 2015, Nick Reiner co-wrote the film Being Charlie , which was inspired by his experiences with addiction and his relationship with his father; Rob Reiner directed the film. [11] On December 16, 2025, People magazine reported that Nick had a long history of personal struggles, which included erratic behavior, becoming a drug user at a young age, first going to drug rehab at the age of 14 before he "cycled in and out of rehab" starting around the age of 15, having eighteen stays in rehab by 2016, and being homeless. He reportedly became closer to his father during the production of Being Charlie. [12] Nevertheless, police visited the Reiner home on many occasions over the following decade due to incidents involving Nick. [13] [14] At the time of the deaths, Nick was living with his parents. [12]
The night before Rob and Michele Reiner were discovered dead, the couple and their son Nick had attended a Christmas party hosted by Conan O'Brien, but left after Nick, who reportedly "was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, [and] kept asking people if they were famous" and got into a "very loud argument" with Rob. [15] During the argument, Rob reportedly chastised his son for his inappropriate conduct. [16] Another associate of the Reiner family disputed the intensity of the argument and told The New York Times that the Reiners would not have left the party early due to Nick's behavior, which the family had "grown used to." [16]
Arrest and legal proceedings
Nick Reiner was arrested on the night of December 14 near the University of Southern California. [29] [3] [19] Police initially listed bail at $4 million, before announcing he would instead be held without bail. [3] The case had not yet been presented to prosecutors. [19] Later that day, he was charged by Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman with two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders. [5] [30] Hochman said that they have not yet decided whether to pursue the death penalty. [31]
On December 17, Nick made his first court appearance with his defense attorney Alan Jackson, known for his work as both the prosecuting and defense attorney on cases involving celebrities and other high-profile matters. [32] At his first court appearance, Nick only spoke briefly to a judge, did not enter a plea, and waived his right to a speedy trial [33] [34] after Jackson asked for a continuance regarding Nick's arraignment. [33] [35] He is being held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, [36] and his arraignment was set for January 7, 2026. [37] [38]
On January 7, during a court appearance, Jackson withdrew from the case. Nick was then appointed a public defender and his arraignment was subsequently postponed to February 23. [39] [40]
Tributes and reaction
Rob and Michele's other two children, Jake and Romy, released a joint statement on December 17, 2025, calling their parents their "best friends". [41]
Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass called Reiner's death a "devastating loss for our city and our country", citing his creative work and advocacy for social justice. [42] California governor Gavin Newsom said he was "heartbroken", praising Reiner's "boundless empathy" and his advocacy for children and civil rights. [43]
Close friends and collaborators Albert Brooks, Billy Crystal, Larry David, Martin Short, Barry Levinson, Marc Shaiman, and Alan Zweibel released a joint statement which read in part, "There is no other director who has his range...he was always at the top of his game. He charmed audiences. They trusted him." They also wrote, "Michele and Rob Reiner devoted a great deal of their lives for the betterment of our fellow citizens ... They were a special force together—dynamic, unselfish and inspiring. We were their friends, and we will miss them forever". [44] [45] Director Martin Scorsese's personal essay remembering Rob and Michele Reiner was published in The New York Times on Christmas Day; he wrote about how he met Reiner through mutual friends in 1970s Los Angeles, regretting the need to use the past tense in describing them, and saying "I loved hanging out with Rob. We had a natural affinity for each other. He was hilarious and sometimes bitingly funny, but he was never the kind of guy who would take over the room." [46]
Numerous figures in the entertainment industry also paid tribute to Reiner, including Sean Astin, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, Kathy Bates, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cusack, Michael Douglas, Zooey Deschanel, Cary Elwes, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Ron Howard, Eric Idle, Stephen King, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Demi Moore, Harry Shearer, Ben Stiller, Barbra Streisand, Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Woods, and Robin Wright. [47] [48] [49] [50] Sally Struthers, who played his on-screen wife in All In the Family, called the deaths "beyond devastating." [51] Cast members from Stand by Me , including Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, and Wil Wheaton, also issued statements remembering Reiner. [52] [53] [54] Late-night hosts including Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Howard Stern also paid tribute. [55] [56]
Several national political figures issued condolences. Former US president Bill Clinton released a statement describing the Reiners as friends and praising their public service. [57] [48] Political commentator and strategist James Carville described Reiner as "a friend of mine" and also someone who held a huge "cultural impact" on his life. [58] [59] Former US president Barack Obama said that he and his wife Michelle were "heartbroken", noting Reiner's "deep belief in the goodness of people"; Michelle noted they had planned to meet the Reiners in person on the day of their deaths. [49] [60] Former US president Joe Biden and former US vice president Kamala Harris also issued statements mourning the couple and praising their character. [61] [62] Journalists paying tribute to Reiner included CNN's Anderson Cooper. [63]
President Donald Trump mocked Reiner, writing on Truth Social that "a very sad thing happened" and stating Reiner and his wife died "reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome". [64] [65] [66] [67] Trump's reaction was widely criticized [68] [69] by both Republicans and Democrats; Republican critics included Mike Lawler, Don Bacon, and Stephanie Bice, as well as opponents of Trump such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie. [70] [71] When asked about his post during an event that afternoon, Trump reiterated that Reiner was "very bad for our country" and a "deranged person", accusing him of being one of those behind "the Russia hoax", a reference to the Russia investigation origins conspiracy theory. [72] [73] [74] In protest to Trump's remarks about Reiner, wrestling personality Mick Foley severed all ties to the WWE, which Trump has historically had close ties with. [75] [76] [77]
