What began as an awkward meltdown at a Hollywood Christmas party reportedly ended in one of the industry’s most horrifying family tragedies. Nick Reiner, a man struggling with addiction for about a decade, ended his kin's lives. CCTV footage captures his composed demeanour, right before his arrest for committing the horrendous crime.
Just hours after a volatile blow-up at Conan O’Brien’s holiday gathering, Rob Reiner’s troubled son Nick allegedly turned on the two people who had spent decades trying to save him. Friends say the famed director left the party shaken and fearful after Nick’s erratic behaviour alarmed guests and reignited long-running fears about his spiralling mental health and relapse into drugs.
By the next day, police say those fears had turned into a nightmare, with Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer Michele Singer Reiner, found brutally slain inside their Los Angeles home.
The police alleged that their son Nick Reiner, the 49-year-old, murdered his parents on Sunday at their Los Angeles mansion after a “very loud argument’’ at the party on Saturday, pals said. He is accused of fatally slitting their throats and stabbing them multiple times.
The argument at the party reportedly erupted because Nick, who had at least 17 stints in rehab since age 15, was back on drugs and refused yet another course of treatment, sources told The Post. “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,’’ a source told People magazine. Friends said Rob and Michele left the gathering terrified of what their son might do next.
A lifelong family friend who lives near the Reiner home told The Post, “They had had an argument at Conan’s holiday party, and Rob had been telling people that they’re scared for Nick and scared that his mental state was deteriorating.’’ The neighbour added, “Nick was supposedly off drugs,” but then talk surfaced that he was “not so much off them.” At his lowest point, he was “badly addicted to a combo of opiates and heroin,” the neighbour said.
Another friend said, “I know [the parents] wanted him to get help, go to rehab, but he wanted to get help while at home — he did not want to get treatment at a facility. And I know they have argued about that for years.’’
Nick’s sister, Romy, 28, a magazine writer and aspiring actress, discovered their parents’ bodies at around 3.40 pm on Sunday. She told investigators that her brother “should be a suspect’’ because he is “dangerous,’’ sources said. He was arrested hours later and charged with murder. He was held without bail and placed on suicide watch.
How Nick's arrest went down
A video circulating online captures Nick Reiner moments before his arrest, showing him displaying an unusually calm and casual demeanour. In the footage, Reiner is seen walking into and out of a gas station convenience store in an entirely unsuspecting manner, drawing no attention to himself.
However, the tone shifts abruptly as he steps out of the store and begins to cross the road. Within seconds, LAPD officers surround him, bringing the routine scene to a dramatic halt. Reiner is then seen raising his hands in surrender as police move in, marking the moment of his arrest.
Nick’s previous public outburst came months earlier at the Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica Canyon, where he screamed at his father in front of other diners.
Rob and Michele also had a son, Jake, 34, who worked as a TV reporter in Houston and hosted a podcast on the LA Dodgers. Rob had previously been married to former sitcom star Penny Marshall and adopted her daughter, Tracy Marshall Reiner. Tracy, 61, told NBC News on Monday, “I came from the greatest family ever. I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.”
The last public appearance of the family came on Sept. 9, when Nick, Romy, Jake and their parents walked the red carpet at the Spinal Tap II: The End Continues premiere at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.
Drug addiction to homeless: Meet Nick Reiner
Nick had battled drug addiction for more than half his life, at times ending up broke and homeless. In 2015, he founded an environmental non-profit called Save Malibu, but it did not last a year.
A cast member on his semi-autobiographical 2015 film Being Charlie, which Rob directed to help his son, said, “These poor people did everything to help this kid. [Nick’s] a nepo-baby, a spoiled kid to the tee.” Stunt performer Erik Audé told Page Six, “You could tell [Nick] was spoiled and Rob was just sick of his s–t. I just assumed, whether this is correct or not, this kid must be pushing all his buttons. Rob can’t do anything right.”
A family friend said, “This is not the first time their son has been violent. I know of another incident a few years back with Nick, but I won’t say more than that. I just never thought it would ever get to this point. It is such a nightmare.’’
In 2018, Nick admitted on the Dopey podcast, “It’s not much of a story. I got totally spun out on uppers — I think it was coke and something else — and I was up for days on end. I started punching out some things in my guest house.”
A former classmate of Nick’s told The Post, “instantly knew’’ he was the suspect when she heard the news. A security guard hired to patrol the Brentwood community told The Post that Nick had been living with his parents for at least a year. “You could tell something was a little off with him,’’ the guard, Trevor Taufahema, said. “He’s a strange individual, you know? I’m not sure who [the friend] was, but I’d always see [Nick] sneak off with him. I don’t know what they were doing.”
The murders shocked the film-making community. Kathy Bates, who starred in Reiner’s 1990 film Misery, said, “I’m horrified hearing this terrible news. Absolutely devastated.” Fellow director Ron Howard tweeted, “He proved to be a superlative filmmaker, a supportive colleague and at all times a dedicated citizen.”