Hours before filmmaking legend Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home, they attended a holiday party at Conan OโBrienโs house.
Now, two months after the tragedy, the comedian has broken his silence about the death of his good friends.
โTo have that experience of saying good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that theyโre gone … I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward,โ OโBrien said in an interview for โThe New Yorker Radio Hourโ podcast. โI mean, thereโs no other word for it. Itโs just very โ itโs so awful. Itโs just so awful.โ
As host of the Dec. 13 party, OโBrien was among the last people to see the Reiners alive. Their 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested the following night and charged with murdering his parents. Two sources who attended the party described witnessing a loud verbal exchange between Nick Reiner and his parents.
In an interview published Friday, OโBrien said he and his wife were very close with the couple, describing them as โjust such lovely people.โ
OโBrien praised Rob Reinerโs talent as a director and his tireless advocacy efforts. The โWhen Harry Met Sally …โ director was a prominent Democratic donor, noted critic of President Trump and a champion for causes such as early childhood education and gay marriage.
โI think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there โ and to have that voice go quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend,โ OโBrien told The New Yorker.
OโBrien said he considers Reiner โone of the greatsโ given his impressive track record of directing a series of blockbuster movies.
โTo make seven โ in, like, a nine-year, 10-year, 11-year period โ is insanity,โ OโBrien said. โWith โSpinal Tapโ alone, if thatโd been the only thing he ever did, he influenced my generation enormously.โ
OโBrien fondly recalled first watching the rock mockumentary โThis is Spinal Tapโ in college, calling it a โsplitting-the-atom moment.โ
The pair were not only friends, but also collaborators. Reiner was a guest on a 1999 episode of โLate Night with Conan OโBrien,โ and also appeared on episodes of OโBrienโs podcast, โConan OโBrien Needs a Friend,โ in 2023 and 2025.
Authorities allege Nick Reiner fatally stabbed his 78-year-old father and 70-year-old mother at their Brentwood home sometime in the early morning hours of Dec. 14. The coupleโs bodies were discovered in the master bedroom by their daughter around 12 hours later, and Nick Reiner was arrested that night in South L.A. by Los Angeles police.
Nick Reiner was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Dec. 16 and has yet to enter a plea. In January, his arraignment was postponed to Monday after his lawyer, famed defense attorney Alan Jackson, stepped down and was replaced by a public defender.
Nick Reiner has a history of struggles with mental health and substance use. It is unclear how prominently those struggles will feature in criminal proceedings.
Times staff writers James Queally and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
