Conan O’Brien has spoken out for the first time about the deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner. The filmmaker and his spouse were killed in an apparent murder on December 14th. The couple’s son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on suspicion of murder. Mr O’Brien finds himself thrust into the center of the story when it is revealed that Rob, Michelle and Nick had attended his holiday party the night before the fatal accident.
“I knew Rob and Michelle, and then I started getting closer and closer to them and seeing them often,” O’Brien told The New Yorker ahead of next month’s Oscars. “My wife and I used to see them a lot, and they were really, really nice people. And then you go through that experience of saying goodnight to someone and then finding out the next day they’re gone. … I think you were in shock for quite a while afterwards. I mean, there’s no other word. It’s really, really bad. It’s really bad.”
“And I think about how Rob felt about what was going on in this country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there, and it’s still hard for me to understand how that voice could be silenced in an instant,” O’Brien added.
Shortly after news of Rob and Michelle’s deaths broke, news outlets like TMZ and People began publishing stories based on sources claiming that Rob and Nick got into a heated argument during O’Brien’s holiday party the night before the alleged murders. Anonymous guests at the party said Nick made people uncomfortable and stormed off after getting into an argument with his father. The Daily Mail reports that at least one guest nearly called 911 during Nick and Rob’s fight, but O’Brien stopped anyone from calling the police.
Much of the coverage of the party and Nick’s interactions with guests centered around Bill Hader. A source told Variety that Reiners arrived at the same time as Hader and introduced Nick to the former “SNL” player. Later in the evening, Nick approached Hader, who was talking with a friend. Nick asked everyone their names and if they were famous, sources said.
Hader told Nick that he wasn’t famous. “He thought Nick was doing some sort of comedic joke,” the source said. After an awkward silence, Hader offered to talk to Nick once he was done talking to his friend. The source said Hader and O’Brien did not witness Nick’s heated argument with his parents, as some reports had claimed.
Rob and Michelle died from “multiple sharp impact injuries,” according to records from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. Rob was 78 years old and Michelle was 70. Nick has been charged with two counts of murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole or the death penalty, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney.
“These are people, especially for people who grew up watching them or appreciating their work. I mean, I just keep thinking… I think the seven movies that Rob Reiner made in quick succession are classics in the body of work,” O’Brien told The New Yorker. “If you can make one great movie right now, that’s a great thing. It’s an almost impossible feat. To make two means you’re one of the greats. To make seven in nine, 10, 11 years is insane. Even with ‘Spinal Tap,’ even if it was his only work, he had a huge influence on my generation.”
