Picture courtesy of CBC, Canada

 

A shocking tragedy unfolds as Nick Reiner, son of director Rob Reiner, is arrested on suspicion of murder after his parents were found dead. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the 32-year-old's arrest. No bail was set, following the discovery of Rob and Michele Reiner's bodies in their Brentwood home.

 

The couple's 28-year-old daughter, Romy, found them with multiple stab wounds on Sunday. Emergency services were called to the scene at 15:38 local time, but both were pronounced dead. The investigation is ongoing, and a motive is yet to be disclosed.

 

Nick Reiner, who has spoken about his past struggles with addiction, had collaborated with his father on the semi-autobiographical film "Being Charlie," reflecting his own challenges. The family's Brentwood residence, a celebrity enclave, remains under watch with media presence outside.

 

Rob Reiner, son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, became a household name with classics like "This Is Spinal Tap" and "When Harry Met Sally." Michele Reiner was known as an actress and the founder of Reiner Light photography agency. The couple, married since 1989, had three children.

 

The incident quickly drew responses from public figures. US President Donald Trump controversially linked the deaths to Reiner’s opposition to him. The president’s remarks faced backlash, with some Republicans and friends of the Reiners criticising the political angle.

 

Friends and celebrities expressed grief, including Maria Shriver and Sir Elton John, who mourned the loss of the "devoted parents." Echoing these sentiments, John Cusack and Elijah Wood also shared their shock and sorrow, reported the BBC.

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

• Nick Reiner, 32, arrested for murder of parents Rob and Michele Reiner in LA.
• The investigation into multiple stab wounds is ongoing without a disclosed motive.
• US President Trump’s controversial remarks on the incident received widespread criticism.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC 2025-12-16

 

 

 

Very sad. Especially if the rumours re. his son turn out to be true.

 

He made some great movies in the 80's and 90's but then lost his way both professionally and politically. Kind of like the Robert De Niro of directing. 

 

RIP. 

23 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Very sad. Especially if the rumours re. his son turn out to be true.

 

He made some great movies in the 80's and 90's but then lost his way both professionally and politically. Kind of like the Robert De Niro of directing. 

 

RIP. 

Yeah.  I wish film makers could keep out of politics.  Most of his movies were not my 'thing', but nevertheless I had respect for him that was tainted by his dalliances into politics.

Thankfully Trump is facing a lot of backlash from his hostile, nasty, partisan, and inexcusable remarks about Reiner's death. He seems to be shooting himself in the foot and more often than usual lately. And that's saying a lot for this goofball. 

 

The critics aren’t just swing-district Republicans, like Rep. Mike Lawler, of New York, or Trump adversaries, like libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky. Instead, even an otherwise loyal Republican, Rep. Stephanie Bice, of Oklahoma, has chastised the president for the post. “A father and mother were murdered at the hands of their troubled son. We should be lifting the family up in prayer, not making this about politics,” wrote Bice on Twitter.

 

The result is that Republicans are less willing to excuse the inexcusable, like his post about Reiner. Even if he’s still an incumbent popular among the GOP faithful, Trump is no longer the political juggernaut he was only months ago.

Certainly, with his doubling down on his comments from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, calling the deceased director “a deranged person,” he’s not making it any easier for Republicans to ignore this.

 

The killing of Charlie Kirk seems to have been a clarifying moment in modern American politics, but not in the way conservatives initially envisioned. The right’s immediate condemnations of political violence, while insisting that the left is uniquely inclined toward political violence, were clearly meant more as a cudgel than any true expressions of principle. Wrapped in performative grief, the attempts to frame Donald Trump’s MAGA movement as guardians of moral order quickly gave way to infighting. 

 

Now, just three months later, the president himself has completely blown up the entire premise by suggesting that the brutal killing of an American icon was karmic justice for political dissent.

 

Such a grisly family murder of a prominent cultural and political figure is the kind of tragedy that would be expected to halt partisan politics, if only for a moment. And when news of Reiner’s death broke, prominent far-right voices rushed to express sympathy. Prominent influencer and conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec declared that “you won’t see people on the right celebrating” the Reiners’ murder, contrasting it with what he characterized as the left’s reaction to Kirk’s killing. It was less an expression of empathy than a preemptive alibi. 

 

Trump apparently didn’t get the message. What is new is not the president’s behavior, but the cracks forming around him.

 

Step one: Insist MAGA would never celebrate a death. Step two: Dismiss criticism of Trump as liberal hysteria. Step three: Concede that Trump said it, but insist it was righteously provoked. Step four: Argue that Reiner deserved it anyway because he criticized the president.

 

Now that Trump’s aura of inevitability is gone, the message discipline that made MAGA magic is waning — and yet the president himself is oblivious to this shift. Or worse, he is incapable of changing course.

 

MAGA shifts away from Trump after Reiner remarks https://share.google/KWHYqxChyghUFg2Mu

2 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Thankfully Trump is facing a lot of backlash from his hostile, nasty, partisan, and inexcusable remarks about Reiner's death. He seems to be shooting himself in the foot and more often than usual lately. And that's saying a lot for this goofball. 

 

The critics aren’t just swing-district Republicans, like Rep. Mike Lawler, of New York, or Trump adversaries, like libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky. Instead, even an otherwise loyal Republican, Rep. Stephanie Bice, of Oklahoma, has chastised the president for the post. “A father and mother were murdered at the hands of their troubled son. We should be lifting the family up in prayer, not making this about politics,” wrote Bice on Twitter.

 

The result is that Republicans are less willing to excuse the inexcusable, like his post about Reiner. Even if he’s still an incumbent popular among the GOP faithful, Trump is no longer the political juggernaut he was only months ago.

Certainly, with his doubling down on his comments from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, calling the deceased director “a deranged person,” he’s not making it any easier for Republicans to ignore this.

 

The killing of Charlie Kirk seems to have been a clarifying moment in modern American politics, but not in the way conservatives initially envisioned. The right’s immediate condemnations of political violence, while insisting that the left is uniquely inclined toward political violence, were clearly meant more as a cudgel than any true expressions of principle. Wrapped in performative grief, the attempts to frame Donald Trump’s MAGA movement as guardians of moral order quickly gave way to infighting. 

 

Now, just three months later, the president himself has completely blown up the entire premise by suggesting that the brutal killing of an American icon was karmic justice for political dissent.

 

Such a grisly family murder of a prominent cultural and political figure is the kind of tragedy that would be expected to halt partisan politics, if only for a moment. And when news of Reiner’s death broke, prominent far-right voices rushed to express sympathy. Prominent influencer and conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec declared that “you won’t see people on the right celebrating” the Reiners’ murder, contrasting it with what he characterized as the left’s reaction to Kirk’s killing. It was less an expression of empathy than a preemptive alibi. 

 

Trump apparently didn’t get the message. What is new is not the president’s behavior, but the cracks forming around him.

 

Step one: Insist MAGA would never celebrate a death. Step two: Dismiss criticism of Trump as liberal hysteria. Step three: Concede that Trump said it, but insist it was righteously provoked. Step four: Argue that Reiner deserved it anyway because he criticized the president.

 

Now that Trump’s aura of inevitability is gone, the message discipline that made MAGA magic is waning — and yet the president himself is oblivious to this shift. Or worse, he is incapable of changing course.

 

MAGA shifts away from Trump after Reiner remarks https://share.google/KWHYqxChyghUFg2Mu

 

   This thread isn't about Trump though .

4 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

This thread isn't about Trump though .

Tell Trump that.

9 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   This thread isn't about Trump though .

Everything is for them, including the weather.

12 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   This thread isn't about Trump though .

 

When DT came out with that defaming stuff about the deceased, he, as usual, made the event about the person he admires most:  himself.  That's what he always does, makes it about himself.  As he says "I whine until I win."  The incident is now about him.  MAGA baby!

 

2 minutes ago, bendejo said:

 

When DT came out with that defaming stuff about the deceased, he, as usual, made the event about the person he admires most:  himself.  That's what he always does, makes it about himself.  As he says "I whine until I win."  The incident is now about him.  MAGA baby!

 

 

   It wasn't Donald Trump who turned this thread to be all about Donald Trump .

I could care less if Rob Reiner rests in peace or not.  Many complain about Trump's so called "disrespect", but Reiner showed no "respect" to people he didn't like either.  If you don't believe me just search "what did Riener say about Rush Limbaugh after he died".