Legendary director Rob Reiner was honored at the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards, three weeks after he and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were tragically murdered.
Host Chelsea Handler paid tribute to Rob and Michelle in her opening monologue, saying the directors were “the nicest people in Hollywood.”
“When I was talking to him, he was present, focused, and funny,” she recalled. “And he’ll ask you a lot of questions.”
“Rob and Michelle worked tirelessly for so many important causes, all based on one fundamental idea: civility,” she added. “I think we can all agree that we should all look out for each other, and we need more of that.”
Although the show did not include a full tribute segment, Handler did pay tribute to Diane Keaton by donning a suit during the second half of his hosting duties.
On December 14, Rob, 78, and Michelle, 70, were found stabbed in their Los Angeles home.
The couple were reportedly found dead by their daughter Romy, 28, after several hours of death.
Sources told the Post that Rob and Michelle had their throats slit and multiple stab wounds to their bodies.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office listed their official cause of death as “multiple sharp force injuries.” The cause of death was ruled a homicide.
After autopsies, their bodies were cremated and the remains returned to their eldest son, Jake.
According to the couple’s death certificate, obtained by Page Six on December 23, Rob and Michelle were killed within “minutes” of receiving “multiple sharp force injuries” from “another person’s knife.”
The late couple’s son, Nick Reiner, was then arrested on Dec. 14 in connection with his parents’ deaths. He has since been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Nick is currently in solitary confinement and remains on suicide watch at Twin Towers Correctional Facility. As The Post previously reported, the facility is considered America’s largest mental health prison.
In his first court appearance since the death of his parents, he was given a January 7, 2026 arraignment date.
After a short hearing, Jake and Romy Reiner released their own statement, saying, “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain that we are experiencing every moment of every day. The horrifying and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner, that no one should ever have to experience. They were more than just our parents, they were our best friends.”
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness and support from all walks of life, as well as family and friends. We ask for respect and privacy at this time, that speculation be tempered with compassion and humanity, and that our parents be remembered for the wonderful lives they lived and the love they gave,” the statement concluded.
