Category: Rob Reiner
Nick Reiner’s high-powered attorney withdraws from case — but insists former client ‘is not guilty of murder. Print that!’
High-powered attorney Alan Jackson on Wednesday said he “had to withdraw” from the murder case focusing on his now-former client Nick Reiner, who is accused of murdering his parents — Hollywood icon Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70 — last month.
Jackson told reporters that “circumstances beyond our control — but more importantly beyond Nick’s control — have dictated that sadly it’s made it impossible for us to continue our representation of Nick.”
Prosecutors have said they have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty.
Jackson added that he’s “legally and ethically prohibited from explaining all the reasons why” he withdrew from the case but noted that he and his team “remain deeply, deeply committed to Nick Reiner and his best interests.”
The attorney also told reporters that “we’re not just convinced — we know — that the legal process will reveal the true facts of the circumstances surrounding this case, Nick’s case” and that “we’ve investigated this matter top to bottom, back to front. What we’ve learned — and you can take this to the bank — is that pursuant to the laws of this state, pursuant to the law in California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder. Print that! Print that!”
Nick Reiner did not enter a plea when he returned to court Wednesday and is now assigned a public defender, Kimberly Green, KABC-TV reported, adding that he will return to court Feb. 23 and remains in jail on no bail.
The New York Times said Jackson withdrawing from the case “may suggest that the Reiner family — Nick has two siblings — has distanced itself from [Nick] Reiner and his legal case, at least financially.
Nick Reiner, 32 — who faces two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders — in court spoke only when the judge asked if he waives his right to a speedy trial, saying, “Yes, I agree, your honor,” KABC reported.
Reiner was ordered to remain behind bars at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles without bail following his first court appearance on Dec. 17, when he wore shackles and a suicide prevention smock, the station said.
Reiner reportedly was removed from suicide watch ahead of his arraignment, KABC reported, adding that he could enter a not guilty plea by reason of insanity.
More from the station:
If Nick Reiner pleads not guilty next month, the case would normally head toward a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for him to stand trial. His mental competence for trial could also be a factor.
A decade ago, Nick Reiner publicly discussed his severe struggles with addiction and mental health after making a movie with his father, “Being Charlie,” that was very loosely based on their lives.
The Reiners were killed early in the morning of Dec. 14 and were found in the late afternoon the same day, authorities said, according to KABC.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said in initial findings that the couple died from “multiple sharp force injuries” but released no other details, the station said, adding that police have said nothing about possible motives.
The counts against Reiner come with special circumstances of multiple murders and an allegation that he used a dangerous weapon, a knife, KABC said, adding that the additions could mean a more severe sentence.
Prosecutors have said they have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty, the station added.
Blood allegedly was found in a hotel room Nick Reiner checked into hours after arguing with his famed moviemaker father at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party, which took place Dec. 13.
Nick Reiner’s behavior alarmed guests at the party, the New York Times reported in a separate story, citing two attendees who asked not to be named in order to maintain relationships.
More from the Times:
Rob and Nick Reiner got into a shouting match at the party in West Los Angeles, said one of the attendees, who recalled Rob Reiner telling his son that his behavior was inappropriate. The attendee, who did not speak to the Reiners at the party, said that people seemed to be very aware of Nick Reiner’s history with drug abuse, which the family has discussed publicly.
Another attendee said that he did not witness the dispute, but he recognized Rob Reiner in the crowd and noticed the younger Reiner hovering at the fringes of the informal gathering. The guest said that he and other attendees were worried and that several people commented to him on Nick Reiner’s behavior, saying he looked anxious and uncomfortable in a way that deeply unsettled them.
The Reiners were upset and embarrassed about their son’s behavior at the party and expressed worries about his health, NBC News reported, citing another person.
What’s more, Nick Reiner was alleged to have interrupted a conversation involving comedian Bill Hader, NBC News added. When Hader told Nick Reiner that the conversation was private, the source told the news network that Nick Reiner appeared to pause and stare before “storming off.” Hader did not return a request for comment, NBC News also said.
Nick Reiner hours later used his credit card to check into the Pierside Santa Monica hotel around 4 a.m. Dec. 14, TMZ reported, citing sources with direct knowledge.
Eyewitnesses who saw Nick Reiner check into the hotel told TMZ he seemed “tweaked out,” but there were no visible signs that he had been in a violent confrontation, and there were no bloodstains or cuts on his body.
TMZ added that Nick Reiner’s reservation was for one day, but he never formally checked out.
When hotel staff entered Nick Reiner’s room later on the morning of Dec. 14, they found the shower “full of blood” and blood on the bed, TMZ reported, adding that the room’s window was covered by bedsheets.
TMZ said Nick Reiner was located and arrested about 20 miles away in Exposition Park, near downtown Los Angeles, around 9:15 p.m. Dec. 14; authorities were called for medical aid to the Reiner home around 3:30 p.m. Dec. 14, after which the bodies of the Reiner couple were found.
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Trump broke decorum. The media broke the truth — again.
Recently, Paul du Quenoy published a necessary piece at Chronicles putting President Trump’s remark after the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner in proper context. In a Truth Social post that went viral, Trump quipped that Rob Reiner had died of “Trump derangement syndrome,” while also offering condolences and praying that the deceased would “rest in peace.”
The media response was instant and hysterical. As du Quenoy notes, legacy outlets erupted in moral outrage, eager to condemn Trump as uniquely depraved. He highlights one of the ugliest examples: a sermon from David Remnick in the thoroughly politicized New Yorker, denouncing Trump as a “degraded” human being.
Trump’s remark was ill judged. The media’s response was dishonest. Only one of those failures is being treated as a permanent moral indictment.
Du Quenoy asks: Where was this moral sensitivity when figures on the left trafficked in venom — or worse — after the assassination of Charlie Kirk?
The answer, of course, is nowhere.
This double standard defines our media culture. When rhetorical excess comes from the left, it is ignored, excused, or rationalized. When it comes from the right — especially from Trump — it is proof of moral disqualification. Etiquette is enforced selectively, always against the same targets. From the BBC to the Los Angeles Times, outlets had no difficulty canonizing Reiner while casting Trump as a cartoon villain.
A fair point must be made: Trump should not have said what he did. A president should observe certain proprieties, and Trump violates them all too often. I supported his policies and voted for him repeatedly, but that does not require defending every avoidable verbal misfire. This one was a mistake.
What deserves closer scrutiny, however, is the media’s attempt to weaponize that mistake. In outlets like People magazine, Trump’s comment was contrasted with Reiner’s allegedly noble reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Reiner, we are told, expressed “horror.” Trump, by contrast, showed cruelty.
This framing collapses under minimal honesty.
After seeing this contrast repeated again and again, I searched for Reiner’s public statements — not about Kirk, but about Trump. What emerges is not a portrait of an angelic figure suddenly besmirched. For years, Reiner unleashed a steady stream of invective against Trump: “mentally unfit,” “con man,” “fascist,” “lying buffoon,” along with a great many four-letter flourishes unprintable here. He pushed the Trump-Russia hoax long after it had been exposed as fantasy. His political obsession was not subtle, incidental, or private.
RELATED: Glenn Beck addresses Trump’s controversial Rob Reiner message
Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Yet this entire record has been scrubbed from the story. Media profiles dwell on Reiner’s filmmaking career and his role as a loving father while erasing his lifelong activism and venom toward Trump. The reason is simple: The people telling the story agree with Reiner’s politics and share his hatred of Trump. Presenting Trump’s animus as unprovoked is not journalism. It is narrative laundering.
The comparison with Charlie Kirk’s murder is equally dishonest. Kirk, to my knowledge, never publicly attacked Reiner. There was no shared history, no prolonged feud. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) put it plainly: Trump should have said nothing after Reiner’s death, even if Reiner was obsessed with him. Still, pretending that Trump’s reaction should mirror Reiner’s response to Kirk ignores reality. The relationships were not the same.
Nor should Reiner be recast as a purely apolitical figure whose ideology can be set aside for the sake of a tidy morality play. He embraced his identity as a committed leftist as openly as he embraced his Hollywood career. The media’s erasure of that fact mirrors older myths, such as the claim that the “Hollywood Ten” were merely innocent artists with no communist affiliations. You can oppose blacklisting without lying about politics. The left never resists the temptation to lie.
So once again, we are presented with a familiar fable: a gentle, virtuous man smeared by a deranged tyrant for no reason at all. It is nonsense — but useful nonsense. It allows the media to posture as arbiters of decency while ignoring their own complicity in coarsening public life.
Trump’s remark was ill judged. The media’s response was dishonest. Only one of those failures is being treated as a permanent moral indictment — and that tells you everything you need to know.
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Nick Reiner will be charged with murder in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner: Prosecutors
Prosecutors said Nick Reiner will be charged with murder in the killing of his parents, famed moviemaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, the New York Times reported.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced the charges Tuesday, the Times said, adding that the Reiners were found stabbed to death Sunday afternoon in their Brentwood, California, home.
When hotel staff entered Nick Reiner’s room later on Sunday morning, they found the shower ‘full of blood’ and blood on the bed.
Hochman said his office will file two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance alleging multiple murders, NBC News reported.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Times said, adding that Hochman said no decision has been made with respect to the death penalty.
Hochman added that Nick Reiner used a knife to kill his parents, the paper said, but the district attorney wouldn’t provide any details about the murder weapon, including if and where it had been recovered.
“That will actually be evidence we’ll present in court,” Hochman said, according to the Times.
More from the paper:
Nick Reiner, 32, did not appear in court on Tuesday because he had not been medically cleared to be transferred to the courthouse from the jail, his lawyer, Alan Jackson, told reporters at the courthouse. The screening is a requirement to ensure that detainees do not need medical treatment, and Nick Reiner, once medically cleared, will be brought to court for arraignment, Mr. Hochman said. At that time, Nick Reiner will enter a plea.
Blood allegedly was found in a hotel room Nick Reiner checked into hours after arguing with his famed moviemaker father at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party, which took place Saturday.
Nick Reiner’s behavior alarmed guests at the party, the New York Times reported, citing two attendees who asked not to be named in order to maintain relationships.
More from the Times:
Rob and Nick Reiner got into a shouting match at the party in West Los Angeles, said one of the attendees, who recalled Rob Reiner telling his son that his behavior was inappropriate. The attendee, who did not speak to the Reiners at the party, said that people seemed to be very aware of Nick Reiner’s history with drug abuse, which the family has discussed publicly.
Another attendee said that he did not witness the dispute, but he recognized Rob Reiner in the crowd and noticed the younger Reiner hovering at the fringes of the informal gathering. The guest said that he and other attendees were worried and that several people commented to him on Nick Reiner’s behavior, saying he looked anxious and uncomfortable in a way that deeply unsettled them.
The Reiners were upset and embarrassed about their son’s behavior at the party and expressed worries about his health, NBC News reported, citing another person.
What’s more, Nick Reiner was alleged to have interrupted a conversation involving comedian Bill Hader, NBC News added. When Hader told Nick Reiner that the conversation was private, the source told the news network that Nick Reiner appeared to pause and stare before “storming off.” Hader did not return a request for comment, NBC News also said.
Nick Reiner hours later used his credit card to check into the Pierside Santa Monica hotel around 4 a.m. Sunday, TMZ reported, citing sources with direct knowledge.
Eyewitnesses who saw Nick Reiner check into the hotel told TMZ he seemed “tweaked out,” but there were no visible signs that he had been in a violent confrontation, and there were no bloodstains or cuts on his body.
TMZ added that Nick Reiner’s reservation was for one day, but he never formally checked out.
When hotel staff entered Nick Reiner’s room later on Sunday morning, they found the shower “full of blood” and blood on the bed, TMZ reported, adding that the room’s window was covered by bedsheets.
LAPD Robbery-Homicide detectives went to the hotel Monday to gather evidence and interview employees, TMZ said, adding that Nick Reiner was located and arrested about 20 miles away in Exposition Park, near downtown Los Angeles.
Reiner was arrested around 9:15 p.m. Sunday night; authorities were called for medical aid to the Reiner home around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, where the bodies of his parents were found.
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The people carrying addiction’s weight rarely get seen
What happened Sunday at the home of Rob and Michele Reiner is a family nightmare. A son battling addiction, likely complicated by mental illness. Parents who loved him. A volatile situation that finally erupted into irreversible tragedy.
I grieve for them.
Shame keeps families quiet. Fear keeps them guarded. Love keeps them hoping longer than wisdom sometimes allows.
I also grieve for the families who read those headlines and felt something tighten in their chest because the story felt painfully familiar.
We often hear the phrase, “If you see something, say something.” The problem is that most people do not know what to say. So they say nothing at all.
What if we started somewhere simpler?
I see you. I see the weight you are carrying. I hurt with you.
Families living with addiction and serious mental illness often find themselves isolated. Not only because of the chaos inside their homes, but because friends, neighbors, and even faith communities hesitate to step closer, unsure of what to say or do. Over time, silence settles in.
Long before police are called, before neighbors hear sirens, before a tragedy becomes a headline, people live inside relentless stress and uncertainty every day.
They are caregivers.
We rarely use that word for parents, spouses, or siblings of addicts, but we should. These families do not simply react to bad choices. They manage instability. They monitor risk. They absorb emotional whiplash. They try to keep everyone safe while holding together a household under extraordinary strain.
In many ways, this disorientation rivals Alzheimer’s. In some cases, it proves even more destabilizing.
Addiction is cruelly unpredictable. It offers moments of clarity that feel like hope. A sober conversation. An apology. A promise that sounds sincere. Those moments can disarm a family member who desperately wants to believe the worst has passed.
Then the pivot comes. Calm turns to chaos. Remorse gives way to rage. Many families learn to live on edge, constantly recalibrating, never certain whether today will be manageable or explosive.
Law enforcement officers understand this reality well. Many domestic calls involve addiction, mental illness, or both. Tension often greets officers at the door, followed by a familiar refrain: “We didn’t know what else to do.”
Calling these family members caregivers matters because it reframes the conversation. It moves us away from judgment and toward reality. From, “Why don’t they just …?” to, “What are they carrying?” It acknowledges that these families manage risk, not just emotions.
The recovery community has long emphasized truths that save lives: You did not cause it. You cannot control it. You cannot cure it. These principles are not cold. They bring clarity. And clarity matters when safety is at stake.
RELATED: The grace our cruel culture can’t understand
Photo by Gary Hershorn / Getty Images
Another truth too often postponed until tragedy strikes deserves equal emphasis: The caregiver’s safety matters too.
Friends and faith communities often respond with a familiar phrase: “Let me know if there’s anything you need.” It sounds kind, but it places the burden back on someone already exhausted and often afraid.
Caregivers need something different. They need people willing to ask better questions.
Are you safe right now? Is there a plan if things escalate? Who is checking on you? Would it help if I stayed with you or helped you find a safe place tonight?
These questions do not intrude. They protect.
Often, the most meaningful help does not come as a solution, but as a witness. Henri Nouwen once observed that the people who matter most rarely offer advice or cures. They share the pain. They sit at the kitchen table. They walk alongside without looking away.
Caregivers living with someone battling addiction and mental illness often need at least one safe presence who sees clearly, speaks honestly, and stays when things grow uncomfortable.
We have permission to care, but not always the vocabulary.
Shame keeps families quiet. Fear keeps them guarded. Love keeps them hoping longer than wisdom sometimes allows. One of the greatest gifts we can offer is the willingness to penetrate that isolation with clarity, grace, and tangible help.
Grace does not require silence in the face of danger. Love does not demand enduring abuse. Faith does not obligate someone to remain in harm’s way.
Pointing a caregiver toward safety does not abandon the person struggling with addiction. It recognizes that multiple lives stand at risk, and all of them matter.
When tragedies occur, the public asks what could have been done differently. One answer proves both simple and difficult: Stop overlooking the caregivers quietly absorbing the blast.
RELATED: The courage we lost is hiding in the simplest places
Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
Welfare checks should not focus solely on the person battling addiction or mental illness. Families living beside that struggle often need support long before a breaking point arrives.
If you know someone whose son, daughter, spouse, or partner struggles, do not look away because you feel unsure what to say. You do not need to solve anything. You do not need to analyze anything.
Start by seeing them. Stay with them.
I see you. I see how heavy this is. You do not have to carry it alone.
Ask better questions. Offer practical help that does not depend on their energy to ask. Check on them again tomorrow.
This season reminds us that Christ did not stand at a safe distance from trauma. He came close to the wounded and brought redemption without demanding tidy explanations.
When we do the same for families living in the shadow of addiction and mental illness, we honor their suffering and the Savior who meets us there.
