On Sunday, news broke that Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner had been killed — sending shockwaves through Hollywood and across the country. Here’s what we know so far.
Rob Reiner found dead in his home
On Sunday afternoon, the legendary director and his wife were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home, prompting the LAPD to launch a homicide investigation.
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner,” a spokesperson for the family said. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
Reiner directed a number of iconic movies, from This Is Spinal Tap to When Harry Met Sally... and The Princess Bride. As an actor, he was known for an eight-year run on All In The Family as well as more recent cameos on New Girl and The Bear. Reiner met Singer, who was working as a photographer at the time, on the set of When Harry Met Sally… In fact, their love story inspired him to change the ending of the beloved rom-com. “The original ending had Harry and Sally not ending up together,” Reiner told CNN last year. At the time, Reiner had been single for 10 years and “couldn’t figure out how I was ever going to be with anybody… But then I met Michele and I thought: OK, I see how this works.”
The couple got married in 1989 and had three children together: Romy, Jake, and Nick. Reiner had also adopted his daughter Tracy from his previous marriage to Penny Marshall.
Nick Reiner arrested
On Monday, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell confirmed that Reiner and Singer Reiner’s 32-year-old son Nick was “booked for murder.” He is being held without bail. The LAPD said in a statement that Nick was arrested around 9:15 p.m. Sunday night, and that an investigation revealed he is “responsible” for his parents’ deaths.
Family friends told the Los Angeles Times that Nick and his father got into an argument at a party at Conan O’Brien’s home on Saturday. Witnesses reported Nick acting strangely.
In the past, Nick spoke candidly about his struggles with addiction and being unhoused. He co-wrote the 2015 movie Being Charlie, which was loosely inspired by his battles. He worked on the movie with his father, who directed it. Rob Reiner said the experience brought him and his son closer together: “It forced me to have to see more clearly, and understand more deeply, what Nick had gone through, and I think it forced him to see things that I had experienced during this process.”
Celebrities react to Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s deaths
The outpouring of sadness and support online was swift. Katie Couric wrote on Threads, “I knew Rob and had met his wife a few times and she seemed so lovely… They were warm and funny and so sweet. What an awful weekend. The world seems so dark right now.”
A spokesperson for Norman Lear, the creator of All in the Family, said he was “devastated” by the news. “Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world. Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place.”
Jamie Lee Curtis — whose husband, Christopher Guest, starred in This Is Spinal Tap — said in a statement on behalf of herself and Guest, “Christopher and I are numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends Rob and Michele Singer Reiner… There will be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared and the great political and social impact they both had on the entertainment industry, early childhood development, the fight for gay marriage and their global care for a world in crisis.”
Reiner was a champion of liberal causes — he helped found the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which launched the court case that eventually overturned California’s Prop. 8, for instance. Several Democratic leaders shared their condolences in the wake of his death.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said, “Titans of the industry in every sense, the Reiners’ legacy is secured through works of art that impacted generations.”
“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,” former President Barack Obama wrote on X. “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.”
Trump post on Rob Reiner criticized by some GOP members
President Trump, meanwhile, had some less-than-neutral comments about the tragic deaths. He posted on Truth Social that Reiner’s death was “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.”
Reiner was an outspoken Trump critic — in October, he blasted the administration’s attempts to “control the media” and to force redistricting ahead of the midterm elections. The director said that McCarthyism “feels quaint compared to what’s going on in America right now.”
Trump’s response is being called out by some members of his party. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s been openly feuding with the president for weeks, said, “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.”
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who often criticizes Trump, wrote on X, “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”
Asked on Monday about the criticism from within his own party, President Trump doubled down on his comments, telling reporters he “was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape, or form.”
