Conan O’Brien breaks silence after pal Rob Reiner was at his party just hours before being ‘stabbed to death by son’
CONAN O’Brien has broken his silence after his friend Rob Reiner was at his party just hours before being killed.
Reiner, 78, and Michele allegedly had their throats slit while they were in bed and their son Nick was charged with murder.
Reiner and Michele had attended O’Brien’s holiday party the night before the killings on December 24, last year.
The couple arrived at that party with Nick because they were reportedly afraid to leave him alone.
Conan O’Brien told The New Yorker: “I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them, and I was seeing them a lot.
“My wife and I were seeing them a lot, and they were so — they were just such lovely people.
“And to have that experience of saying goodnight to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone. … I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward. I mean, there’s no other word for it. It’s just very — it’s so awful. It’s just so awful.”
O’Brien admitted it is still “hard for me to comprehend” the tragedy.
Reiner’s son Nick faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if he’s convicted.
The death penalty has not been ruled out.
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This comes after Reiner told friends he was terrified of his own son and feared he could hurt him just hours before the Hollywood legend and his wife were found dead.
Nick, 32, had been living in the guesthouse of his parents’ $13.5 million Brentwood estate.
He had struggled with drug addiction since his teens, undergone at least 18 stints in rehab and experienced periods of homelessness.
Sources say Nick behaved erratically at the holiday party and unsettled guests.
According to MailOnline, Reiner told friends: “I’m petrified of him”.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I’m afraid of my own son. I think my own son can hurt me.”
At one point, Reiner introduced Nick to Bill Hader.
Nick then interrupted Hader mid-conversation, according to accounts.
Hader reportedly told him he was “in the middle of a private conversation.”
Nick reacted angrily, stood still, stared at Hader and stormed off.
It was moments later that Reiner approached friends and voiced his fear.
Hours after the gathering, prosecutors allege Nick returned home and killed both his parents in the early hours of Sunday, December 14.
On the Sunday afternoon, a masseuse contacted the Reiners’ 27-year-old daughter Romy after being unable to gain entry to the home.
Romy rushed to the house and found her father’s body before fleeing in distress.
She later learned her mother had also been killed.
Billy Crystal was seen outside the home with his wife Janice, wiping away tears as police arrived.
Crystal later joined Albert Brooks, Larry David, Martin Short and Barry Levinson in a statement praising Reiner as “a great comic actor” and “a master storyteller.”
Police said both victims were found in the master bedroom and no other suspects were located.
Nick was arrested around 9pm on Sunday near the Expo/Vermont Metro station.
Earlier that morning, he had checked into a Santa Monica hotel.
About an hour before his arrest, he was seen acting nervously while buying a Gatorade at a gas station.
Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bail.
The legendary career of iconic director Rob Reiner
FAMED actor, director and producer Rob Reiner, 78, died on December 14 alongside his wife Michele Singer, 68, in an apparent homicide.
Here is a look at the prodigious list of achievements the Hollywood powerhouse earned before his tragic and sudden death.
Director’s Beginnings
- Reiner was born in New York City on March 6, 1947, to legendary comedy writer Carl Reiner and singer Estelle Reiner
- He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles film school before breaking into the entertainment industry
Hollywood Career
- Reiner first found fame as an actor playing Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the iconic sitcom All in the Family from 1971 to 1979
- In 1984, he directed his first film This Is Spinal Tap – a mockumentary following a fictional heavy metal band
- Reiner went on to direct cult classic films like The Princess Bride in 1987 and When Harry Met Sally… in 1989
- Other notable movies made by the director include Misery, The American President, and A Few Good Men, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture
- The production company he co-founded, Castle Rock Entertainment, has also produced hits like Seinfeld and The Shawshank Redemption
- Reiner didn’t halt his acting career either, recently starring in The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013 and The Bear in 2025
Personal Life
- Reiner married actress Penny Marshall in 1971 and adopted her daughter, Tracy, from a previous marriage. The couple divorced in 1981
- He met photographer Michele Singer while shooting When Harry Met Sally
- They married in 1989 and had three children: Jake, born 1991, Nick born 1993, and Romy born 1997)
- Nick opened up about his struggle with drug addiction in 2016. The movie Becoming Charlie, directed by Reiner, was based on Nick’s story
- Reiner was an outspoken Democratic activist and a fierce critic of Donald Trump