Nick Reiner, 32, has been arrested and deemed “accountable” for the deaths of his dad and mom, filmmaker Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles police mentioned. The tragedy has shocked Hollywood and left household, associates, and followers grappling with the aftermath of a devastating incident.
On Sunday, December 14, Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, have been discovered stabbed to dying of their Brentwood, Los Angeles, residence. Paramedics arrived round 3:30 p.m. after the couple’s daughter Romy, 28, found them.
The Evening Earlier than the Deaths
The day earlier than the killings, the household had attended a vacation celebration hosted by Conan O’Brien in Los Angeles, the place Nick was reportedly current. TMZ reported that Rob and his son have been concerned in a “very loud argument” through the gathering. One supply informed Folks, “Nick was freaking everybody out, appearing loopy, stored asking folks in the event that they have been well-known.” Rob and Michele left the celebration shortly afterward.
Nick’s Lengthy-Operating Struggles
Nick has spoken publicly about his battles with dependancy and intervals of homelessness. He informed Folks in 2016 that he started biking out and in of rehab at age 15 and spent important stretches homeless as his substance use escalated. “I’m a spoiled, white, wealthy child from a Hollywood household,” he admitted to NPR in 2016. “However I feel it’s much more of a testomony to how highly effective medicine might be that you just don’t care about any of that stuff.”
Nick has been candid about utilizing heroin, methamphetamine and different substances, describing a number of relapses. On the podcast “Dopey,” he mentioned he generally selected homelessness over returning to therapy, reflecting on the darkish instances in his youth.
The Film Impressed by Him
Nick’s turbulent youth turned the idea for the 2015 semi-autobiographical movie Being Charlie, which he co-wrote and Rob directed. The story follows a troubled teen navigating dependancy and a fancy relationship together with his well-known father. In a single key scene, the character Charlie tells his father, “It was by no means concerning the medicine. All I ever needed was a option to kill the noise.”
Nick informed NPR that making the film was a part of his restoration journey. “Lots of people that undergo addictions of every kind are form of arduous to like,” he mentioned. “So I assume the character was to point out how ugly it will get.” He added that, within the movie, Charlie steals OxyContin from a sick, aged lady, saying, “I’ve positively executed issues much like that. I can’t say I’ve executed that in fairly a while, however once I was going via loads of that stuff, positive, you don’t actually take into consideration something. You throw your morals out of the window.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: (L-R) Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner attend Human Rights Marketing campaign’s 2025 Los Angeles Dinner at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 22, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photograph by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Photographs for Human Rights Marketing campaign)
What His Dad Stated of Nick
Rob Reiner described the collaboration as probably the most significant inventive experiences of his profession. “As a result of I started working with Nick. And regardless that we had struggled via some troublesome instances and the making of the film definitely dredged these issues up, it was additionally a chance to work via loads of that stuff,” he informed NPR.
In a single scene within the film, Charlie’s father tells him he loves him and talks to him about supporting him via robust love.
“Each knowledgeable with a desk and a diploma informed me I needed to be robust on you. However each time we despatched you away to a different a type of packages, if I noticed you slipping additional away from us, all I may inform myself was, ‘I’d quite have you ever alive and hating me than lifeless on the streets.’”
What Others Are Saying About Nick
Cinematographer Barry Markowitz, who labored with Rob on Being Charlie and different tasks, shared a deeply private reflection on the household and Nick. “I’m devastated,” he informed NPR. “Rob and Michele have been stronger than sturdy. Shut-knit, loving, considerate, superb folks. And I knew them effectively sufficient that every time I used to be in LA, I stayed with them. Nick was going via some tough instances for a few years, however his soul was so pure and delicate. He was on the upswing. Seemed like a GQ mannequin. I want I may provide you with a tidbit or one thing, like, ‘oh, he regarded unhealthy and this and that’—he didn’t. That’s what’s so spooky about psychological sickness.”
Markowitz continued, “I feel what folks don’t see after they have a look at social media and public personas, they don’t see the non-public, fragile, difficult individual. And Nick was all of that. It was at all times a wrestle, however he had moments of sunshine. It’s a heartbreak on each stage.”
One other household pal informed Folks that Rob and Michele had been deeply fearful about Nick’s psychological state within the months main as much as the deaths. “Rob had been telling people who they’re scared for Nick and scared that his psychological state was deteriorating. These poor folks did every little thing to assist this child,” the pal mentioned. “Nick was supposedly off medicine,” they added, “not a lot off them.”
In response to the supply, Rob and Michele spared no expense to rehabilitate Nick through the years, sending him to “numerous amenities.” At his lowest level, Nick reportedly battled extreme dependancy to a mix of opiates and heroin.
Nick Reiner stays in custody as authorities proceed to analyze the deaths of his dad and mom.
