FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
Nick Reiner was in police custody Monday for what investigators believe was the fatal stabbing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. According to the Associated Press, Rob and Michele’s bodies were discovered on Sunday. Their deaths are sending chills throughout the entertainment industry just days before December’s biggest holidays. Meanwhile, President Trump is sparking reactions after sharing a controversial take on the late Rob Reiner amid his death.
As mentioned, Rob and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead Sunday at their home in Los Angeles. Investigators believe they suffered stab wounds, a law enforcement official told AP.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3:30 p.m. Upon arrival, firefighters found a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman dead inside. Reiner turned 78 in March. Detectives with the Robbery Homicide Division were investigating an “apparent homicide” at Reiner’s home, said Capt. Mike Bland with the LAPD.
However, Los Angeles authorities did not immediately confirm the identities of the people found dead at the residence. The home is located in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the city’s west side that’s home to many celebrities. Killings are rare in the Brentwood neighborhood. But thescene is about a mile from the home where O.J. Simpson’s wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were killed in 1994.
Online jail records show Los Angeles police booked 32-year-old Nick Reiner. As of Monday, Rob’s youngest son was still in jail. It was not immediately clear what charges he would face. The online records showed the court has set a $4 million bail.
A law enforcement official who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity confirmed Nick Reiner is being held. Representatives for Rob Reiner’s family did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment. Additionally, it wasn’t immediately clear if Nick had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Rob Reiner has been married to Michele, a photographer, since 1989. The two met while he was directing ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and had three children together: Nick, Jake and Romy.
The youngest child, Nick Reiner, has spoken publicly of his struggles with addiction, per AP. By 18, he had cycled in and out of treatment facilities with bouts of homelessness and relapses in between. Rob and Nick Reiner explored their difficult relationship and Nick Reiner’s struggles with drugs in a semi-autobiographical 2016 film, ‘Being Charlie.’
Donald Trump on Monday blamed Rob Reiner’s outspoken opposition to him for the actor-director’s killing. The president made the unsubstantiated claim in a shocking post on Truth Social. So far, his message has drawn criticism, even from conservatives and his supporters, such as Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Trump wrote that Reiner and his wife were killed “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.” He also said Reiner “was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness.”
Meanwhile, the White House amplified the president’s post and did not respond to a message about the criticism it was receiving and calls for Trump to take it down.
Reiner was one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood. His work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including ‘This is Spinal Tap,’ ‘A Few Good Men,’ ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ and ‘The Princess Bride.’ His role as Meathead in Norman Lear’s 1970s TV classic ‘All in the Family,’ made him a Hollywood superstar and won him two Emmy Awards. He was the son of comedy legend Carl Reiner.
Associated Press writers Christopher Weber, Mike Balsamo, Michelle Price and Andrew Dalton contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
