Nick Reiner had been disruptive at a holiday party Saturday with his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, according to two people familiar with the situation, just hours before they were found dead in their Los Angeles home.
Nick Reiner, who was arrested Sunday and later booked on suspicion of murder, made other guests uncomfortable with his behavior at the holiday party, which was hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien, one person said. Another person said Reiner’s parents were upset and embarrassed about their son’s behavior at the party and expressed worries about his health.
The two people asked that their names be withheld because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The deaths of Rob Reiner, a legendary actor and filmmaker, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, have rattled Hollywood, where the family was widely beloved. But the family’s challenges with their younger son, Nick, were also well-known, particularly his battles with drug addiction. Nick Reiner, 32, was living on and off at their home in Brentwood, one person said.
A representative for O’Brien did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately known whether Reiner had legal representation.
The three Reiners attended O’Brien’s gathering together. One person said Nick Reiner had at least one interaction that left partygoers concerned.
He is alleged to have interrupted a conversation involving comedian Bill Hader. When Hader told him the conversation was private, the source said, Nick Reiner appeared to stand still and stare before “storming off.”
A representative for Hader did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Authorities have said they continue to investigate the circumstances of the deaths and are holding Nick Reiner without bail.
Nick Reiner, one of four siblings, had been vocal about his experiences with rehab and addiction treatment that he started when he was 15.
In 2015, Rob and Nick Reiner teamed up for the film “Being Charlie,” which Rob directed and Nick co-wrote. The drama, inspired by Nick’s experiences, follows the addicted son of a would-be governor who “goes down the long, rough road of rehab, fighting against recovery every inch of the way,” according to its IMDb description.
“[W]hat I didn’t understand was the depth of what he was going through,” Rob Reiner said in a May 4, 2016, appearance on NBC’s “TODAY” show. “And the process of making this film not only forced me to see what he was experiencing, but it forced him to see what I went through and what his mother went through, and hopefully the film was a reflection of that.”
Police saw Rob Reiner’s son smoking in the Exposition Park area, law enforcement sources said. Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Monoday, Dec. 15, 2025.
