Everyone was shocked hear about the passing of director Rob Reiner and wife Michele Singer on December 14. The couple were found murdered in their Los Angeles home, and the authorities looked towards homicide from the get go. Arrests have been made in the process, and tributes have been pouring in from all corners of the world, including from many of Rob’s contemporaries. Here is everything you need to know about the unfortunate passing of Rob and Michele.
- 01
Authorities discover two bodies at the Reiners’ home
LAPD discovered two bodies inside the Los Angeles home of the Reiners. The bodies was covered with stab marks and were discovered by their youngest child, Romy. Soon reports flooded in that the bodies had been identified to be of Rob and Michele’s.
- 02
A greater family tragedy
As the investigation went further, LAPD arrested Rob and Michele’s 32-year-old son, Nik Reiner, under the suspicion of committing the deed. Nick and the rest of the family had been open about his struggles with drug abuse. In an older interview with People magazine, Nick had said, “When I was out there, I could have died. It’s all luck. You roll the dice, and you hope you make it.” Rob Reiner, who was known for directing movies such as This is Spinal Tap and When Harry Met Sally, had two sons and a daughter with his wife of 36 years.
- 03
Nick fought with his parents the night before
According to a report by the New York Times, the Reiners were attending a holiday party at Conan O’Brien’s house the night before. Two attendees, who didn’t want to reveal their identity, said that the guests at the party were very much aware of Nick arguing with his parents. Rob and Nick apparently got into a screaming match, and Rob told his son that his behaviour was inappropriate. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said on Monday that Reiners’ son has been “booked for murder” and they believe he was “responsible for their deaths”.
- 04
Nick Reiner’s substance abuse
The director and his wife had felt ‘desperate’ as thei son dealt with substance abuse over the years, often going from rehab to rehab. They said ‘he would tell them that a rehab program wasn’t working’, but they chose to listen to the professionals over their son. He even went through homelessness as a teenager. “We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them,” Michele Reiner told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. Rob accepted that they should have listened to their son at the time.
- 05
Donald Trump’s shocking statement about Reiner
Just a few hours after Reiner’s passing, US president Donald Trump took to social media to give his two cents about this news. He wrote in a post on Truth Social, “A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, 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, sometimes referred to as TDS.
- 06
Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel condemn Trump
Talk-show hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel both took time during their opening monologues to pay tribute to Reiner. They also shared their displeasure with Trump and his comments. Meyers said, “I feared that he was going to do this, and that it was going to cast a shadow on an already dark day. But it was even worse than I could have imagined. He made it about himself, because he is incapable of making it about anyone else.”
Kimmel also did not hold back and said, “What we need in a time like this is compassion and leadership. We did not get that from our president because he had none of it to give. Instead, we got a fool rambling about nonsense. Just when you think he can’t get any lower, he finds a way to do it. It’s so hateful and vile, and when my wife showed it to me for the first time, I thought it was fake. I thought, even for him, this is too much, but nothing is too much for him.”
- 07
Trump doubles down after backlash
After his comments invited a lot of flak online, Trump hosted a Christmas party at the White House. A journalist asked him whether he regrets the comments he made about Reiner or whether he stands by them, and Trump doubled down with no remorse.
He replied, “Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person, as far as Trump is concerned. He knew his faults. In fact, he’s the exact opposite of what I was. He was a friend of Russia, and he was one of the people behind the Russia hoax. He became a deranged person, and I wasn’t a fan of Rob Reiner in any way, shape or form.”
- 08
The Obamas pay tribute to the Reiners
Former US president Barack Obama took to X and wrote, “Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele. Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen. But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people—and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action. Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who loved them.”
His wife and former first lady was at the Jimmy Kimmel Show, where she was asked about the Reiners’ unfortunate passing. She said, “We have known them for many, many years, and we were supposed to be seeing them that night. We got the news, and let me just say this. Rob and Michele are some of the most decent and courageous people you’ll ever want to know. They are not deranged or crazy; what they have always been are passionate people.”
