Inside Nick Reiner’s Addiction and Arrest After His Parents’ Deaths
Nick Reiner, 32, has been arrested and deemed “responsible” for the deaths of his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles police said. The tragedy has shocked Hollywood and left family, friends, and fans grappling with the aftermath of a devastating incident.
On Sunday, December 14, Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home. Paramedics arrived around 3:30 p.m. after the couple’s daughter Romy, 28, discovered them.
The Night Before the Deaths
The day before the killings, the family had attended a holiday party hosted by Conan O’Brien in Los Angeles, where Nick was reportedly present. TMZ reported that Rob and his son were involved in a “very loud argument” during the gathering. One source told People, “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous.” Rob and Michele left the party shortly afterward.
Nick’s Long-Running Struggles
Nick has spoken publicly about his battles with addiction and periods of homelessness. He told People in 2016 that he began cycling in and out of rehab at age 15 and spent significant stretches homeless as his substance use escalated. “I am a spoiled, white, rich kid from a Hollywood family,” he admitted to NPR in 2016. “But I think it’s even more of a testament to how powerful drugs can be that you don’t care about any of that stuff.”
Nick has been candid about using heroin, methamphetamine and other substances, describing multiple relapses. On the podcast “Dopey,” he said he sometimes chose homelessness over returning to treatment, reflecting on the dark times in his youth.
The Movie Inspired by Him
Nick’s turbulent early life became the basis for the 2015 semi-autobiographical film Being Charlie, which he co-wrote and Rob directed. The story follows a troubled teen navigating addiction and a complex relationship with his famous father. In one key scene, the character Charlie tells his father, “It was never about the drugs. All I ever wanted was a way to kill the noise.”
Nick told NPR that making the movie was part of his recovery journey. “A lot of people that go through addictions of all kinds are kind of hard to love,” he said. “So I guess the character was to show how ugly it gets.” He added that, in the film, Charlie steals OxyContin from a sick, elderly woman, saying, “I have definitely done things similar to that. I can’t say I’ve done that in quite some time, but when I was going through a lot of that stuff, sure, you don’t really think about anything. You throw your morals out of the window.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: (L-R) Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner attend Human Rights Campaign’s 2025 Los Angeles Dinner at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 22, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign)
What His Dad Said of Nick
Rob Reiner described the collaboration as one of the most meaningful creative experiences of his career. “Because I got to work with Nick. And even though we had struggled through some difficult times and the making of the movie certainly dredged those things up, it was also an opportunity to work through a lot of that stuff,” he told NPR.
In one scene in the movie, Charlie’s father tells him he loves him and talks to him about supporting him through tough love.
“Every expert with a desk and a diploma told me I had to be tough on you. But every time we sent you away to another one of those programs, if I saw you slipping further away from us, all I could tell myself was, ‘I’d rather have you alive and hating me than dead on the streets.’”
What Others Are Saying About Nick
Cinematographer Barry Markowitz, who worked with Rob on Being Charlie and other projects, shared a deeply personal reflection on the family and Nick. “I’m devastated,” he told NPR. “Rob and Michele were stronger than strong. Close-knit, loving, thoughtful, amazing people. And I knew them well enough that whenever I was in LA, I stayed with them. Nick was going through some rough times for many years, but his soul was so pure and gentle. He was on the upswing. Looked like a GQ model. I wish I could give you a tidbit or something, like, ‘oh, he looked bad and this and that’—he didn’t. That’s what’s so spooky about mental illness.”
Markowitz continued, “I think what people don’t see when they look at social media and public personas, they don’t see the private, fragile, complicated person. And Nick was all of that. It was always a struggle, but he had moments of light. It’s a heartbreak on every level.”
Another family friend told People that Rob and Michele had been deeply worried about Nick’s mental state in the months leading up to the deaths. “Rob had been telling people that they’re scared for Nick and scared that his mental state was deteriorating. These poor people did everything to help this kid,” the friend said. “Nick was supposedly off drugs,” they added, “not so much off them.”
According to the source, Rob and Michele spared no expense to rehabilitate Nick over the years, sending him to “countless facilities.” At his lowest point, Nick reportedly battled severe addiction to a combination of opiates and heroin.
Nick Reiner remains in custody as authorities continue to investigate the deaths of his parents.
