Nick Reiner, the son of famous Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, struggled with drug addiction and even lived on the streets for a while.
An article from 2016 in People magazinedepicted Nick Reiner’s struggle with drugs and homelessness, despite being born into one of Hollywood’s most respected families (Nick’s paternal grandfather, Carl Reiner, was also a beloved actor). At the time, Nick was trying to turn his recovery and past into a film project.
Tragedy unfolded at the family’s Brentwood, CA mansion on December 14th when the bodies of Rob Reiner and his wife were discovered around 3:30 p.m. Daily variety reported that authorities are treating the deaths as an “apparent homicide.” TMZ reported that “the two suffered lacerations consistent with a knife. The LAPD Robbery Homicide Division is still investigating.” ABC 7 they reported being “stabbed” to death.
People magazine makes unconfirmed claims about Nick Reiner
People magazine claimed, citing multiple sources, that Nick Reiner could be charged with killing his parents, but police stressed in a press conference that the investigation is still in its early stages. Of the people the story says no arrests have been made and clarified that its sources were “multiple sources who spoke with family members.” Conformable People“Police have not yet confirmed the account.” Conformable ABC Newsauthorities said late Sunday, Dec. 14, “that they have not identified a suspect and that no one is currently in custody.”
The Los Angeles Times reported, via law enforcement sources, that “a family member has been interviewed in connection with the deaths.” The Times did not name the person but said there were no signs of forced entry into the couple’s Brentwood mansion where the deaths occurred.
“We are not looking for anyone as a suspect or in any other way at this time,” LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said at a news conference, CNN reported. According to CNN, “Police detectives interviewed a family member Sunday night about the deaths.” However, Hamilton said at the press conference “that no one has yet been detained and no one has been interviewed as a suspect,” CNN added, quoting him as saying, “We will try to talk to every family member that we can to get to the bottom of this investigation.”
Nick Reiner claims to have recovered from drug addiction: ‘I met some great crazy people there’
(Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic)
In the 2016 article with PeopleNick Reiner talked about how drug addiction was something he could draw from in his art. Nick Reiner “was taken to his first rehab around the age of 15,” People reported at that time. “Now, at 22, he co-wrote a film based on that experience — and the 17 rehab stays that followed — directed by his father, Rob.”
“It made me who I am now, having to deal with this stuff,” Nick said in the 2016 interview. “I met some great crazy people there, so I was out of my element. Now, I’ve been home for a really long time and I’ve reacclimated to being in LA and being around my family. But there were a lot of dark years there.”
He also talked about not being homeless. “I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” Nick said People in the interview, which was conducted in his father’s office in West Hollywood. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It wasn’t fun.”
Nick said People that he became homeless when he didn’t want to go back to rehab. “If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they suggested, then I had to be homeless,” he told the magazine.
The Reiner family said they were ‘heartbroken’
(Photo by Rommel Demano/Getty Images)
The Reiner family issued a statement to Variety after news broke of the couple’s death.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the tragic deaths of Michele and Rob Reiner,” a family spokesperson said in a statement. “We are heartbroken by this sudden loss and ask for privacy during this incredibly difficult time.”
Comedians Billy Crystal and Larry David were seen arriving at the Reiner home after they were discovered dead.
Rob Reiner and his wife had two more children together named Romy and Jake. Rob Reiner also adopted daughter Tracy while married to his first wife, the late actress/director Penny Marshall. Conformable KTLA-TV, police were seeking a search warrant for the Reiner mansion as part of their investigation.
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This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on December 15, 2025, where it first appeared in Entertainment. Add Men’s Journal as a favorite source by clicking here.