Hours earlier than filmmaking legend Rob Reiner and his spouse Michele had been discovered stabbed to dying of their Brentwood residence, they attended a vacation social gathering at Conan O’Brien’s home.
Now, two months after the tragedy, the comic has damaged his silence in regards to the dying of his good associates.
“To have that have of claiming good night time to someone and having them go away after which discover out the subsequent day that they’re gone … I feel I used to be in shock for fairly some time afterward,” O’Brien stated in an interview for “The New Yorker Radio Hour” podcast. “I imply, there’s no different phrase for it. It’s simply very — it’s so terrible. It’s simply so terrible.”
As host of the Dec. 13 social gathering, O’Brien was among the many final folks to see the Reiners alive. Their 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested the next night time and charged with murdering his mother and father. Two sources who attended the social gathering described witnessing a loud verbal alternate between Nick Reiner and his mother and father.
In an interview printed Friday, O’Brien stated he and his spouse had been very shut with the couple, describing them as “simply such pretty folks.”
O’Brien praised Rob Reiner’s expertise as a director and his tireless advocacy efforts. The “When Harry Met Sally …” director was a distinguished Democratic donor, famous critic of President Trump and a champion for causes reminiscent of early childhood schooling and homosexual marriage.
“I take into consideration how Rob felt about issues which are occurring within the nation, how concerned he was, how a lot he put himself on the market — and to have that voice go quiet right away continues to be exhausting for me to grasp,” O’Brien advised The New Yorker.
O’Brien stated he considers Reiner “one of many greats” given his spectacular observe file of directing a collection of blockbuster motion pictures.
“To make seven — in, like, a nine-year, 10-year, 11-year interval — is madness,” O’Brien stated. “With ‘Spinal Faucet’ alone, if that’d been the one factor he ever did, he influenced my era enormously.”
O’Brien fondly recalled first watching the rock mockumentary “That is Spinal Faucet” in faculty, calling it a “splitting-the-atom second.”
The pair weren’t solely associates, but in addition collaborators. Reiner was a visitor on a 1999 episode of “Late Evening with Conan O’Brien,” and likewise appeared on episodes of O’Brien’s podcast, “Conan O’Brien Wants a Pal,” in 2023 and 2025.
Authorities allege Nick Reiner fatally stabbed his 78-year-old father and 70-year-old mom at their Brentwood residence someday within the early morning hours of Dec. 14. The couple’s our bodies had been found in the main bedroom by their daughter round 12 hours later, and Nick Reiner was arrested that night time in South L.A. by Los Angeles police.
Nick Reiner was charged with two counts of first-degree homicide on Dec. 16 and has but to enter a plea. In January, his arraignment was postponed to Monday after his lawyer, famed protection legal professional Alan Jackson, stepped down and was changed by a public defender.
Nick Reiner has a historical past of struggles with psychological well being and substance use. It’s unclear how prominently these struggles will function in prison proceedings.
Occasions workers writers James Queally and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
