Kathy Griffin has made unusual comments about her late brother, claiming he was a “pedophile” while reflecting on the tragic deaths of Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner.
In a recent YouTube video titled “In Memory of Rob Reiner | Also a Denouncement of Gun Violence,” the comedian expressed his anger at the director and his wife’s murder, allegedly at the hands of their son Nick Reiner.
“I’m going to open up to you guys now about something that I haven’t really talked about since my first book[Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir by Kathy Griffin]and the rest of my family was very angry with me when I talked about it,” Griffin said on Dec. 16.
The 65-year-old explained that she was the youngest of five children, and reminded people that her late parents, John and Maggie, were regular participants on her reality show, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.
“Well, my oldest brother Kenneth is dead now, but thank God he was addicted to crack,” she insisted. “He lived on the streets and was very violent, so he probably had an undiagnosed mental illness that clearly didn’t mix well with crack cocaine.
“All I can say is that it was heartbreaking to see his parents, John and Maggie, trying to save him for the rest of his life,” Griffin continued, apparently comparing his parents to the Reiners, who continued to help Nick through drug abuse and tried to help him when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Griffin recalled being told that Kenneth’s problems began “as a teenager,” and claimed that his first wife confessed that when she was 10 years old, Kenneth “beat her really bad” and locked her out of their apartment in Chicago’s freezing weather.
“I was separated from my family for years because I just wanted to lie to my eldest brother Kenneth and never have to face or deal with him again,” she recalled, revealing that Kenneth was also her godfather.
Griffin also claimed that one of Kenneth’s girlfriends told him that he had “sexually abused one boy and one girl that she knew.”
“Having your oldest brother being a pedophile is something you never grow up from and never get over. I wanted to kill him because all I could think about was my children,” she claimed, calling her late brother a “wife-beating pedophile.”
“So the expression blood is thicker than water doesn’t apply to me,” Griffin added. “For many years, other members of the family didn’t want to admit that Kenneth was abusive, even though he beat his first wife, because I didn’t care that he was my brother and I didn’t want to protect him.”
She went on to detail that she called the Los Angeles Police Department “once a week, repeatedly” to suspect that her brother had “molested two children,” adding, “To this day, I don’t know if any of my relatives know about it.”
Returning to Rob, the “View” alum said that, like the Reiners, he “didn’t want to hear anything about how[the director]should have been guarding” because he had watched his parents “do everything” to help Kenneth.
On December 14, Rob and Michelle were found with their throats slit by their 28-year-old daughter Romy Reiner.
Romy’s 32-year-old brother Nick was arrested the next night after officials told the Post he was a person of interest.
Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
