Rob Reiner was looking “healthy and happy” the night before Rob Reiner was found murdered at home, Jane Fonda has said.
Director Rob and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead at home on Sunday (December 14), reportedly by their daughter, Romy. Their son, Nick, has been charged with their murder.
“Rob and Michele Reiner were wonderful, caring, smart, funny, generous people, always coming up with ideas for how to make the world better, kinder,“ wrote in an Instagram post. ”They had been helping me launch the Committee for the First Amendment. I saw them night before last looking healthy and happy.“
“I am reeling with grief. Stunned,” she added.
Rob, Michele and Nick were at a Christmas party hosted by Conan O’Brien on Saturday evening, and reportedly got into an argument at the event. A source told People that “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,” while an insider told Rolling Stone that Rob and Michele brought Nick to “keep an eye on him”.
Nick had previously been open about his struggles with addiction and homelessness, co-writing the film Being Charlie, directed by his father, which was loosely based on his experiences.
Though they confirmed the project wasn’t autobiographical, Rob said in a 2016 interview on BUILD Series that the movie brought them “closer together” and “forced me to see more clearly, and understand more deeply, what Nick had gone through”.
Nick went on to tell People about his sobriety, and the two appeared together most recently at the red carpet for Rob’s 2025 film Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. That film was the long-awaited follow-up to the cult classic 1984 with much-loved mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which was Reiner’s directorial debut.
Other films of Reiner’s included Stand by Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990), and the Oscar-nominated A Few Good Men (1992).
Fonda is one of a number of famous figures to share touching tributes to the Reiners. Stephen King said he was “horrified and saddened”, while indie rockers Yo La Tengo paid tribute to Reiner with a cover of ‘Gimme Some Money’ from This Is Spinal Tap at their Hanukkah show on Monday.
Paul McCartney, meanwhile, shared an image of himself and Rob together, and wrote: “What a tragedy the death of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, is. It is so shocking in many ways but for me especially so, because over the last year I had been working with him. He directed me in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”
Barack Obama said: “Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen. But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people – and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action. Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose.
“They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who loved them.”
Donald Trump, meanwhile, launched a personal attack on the Stand By Me Director, and put forward false claims that his murder was brought about by his “obsession” with criticising him.
The comments, which he later doubled down on, invited criticism from across the political spectrum and famous figures including the likes of Michelle Obama, Jack White, Josh Gad, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Kimmel and Gracie Abrams.
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