Conan O'Brien has had to cope with many painful losses in his life lately. The comedian's parents died three days apart when they were in their 90s in December 2024. A year later, his friends Rob and Michele Reiner were reportedly slain in their home shortly after they attended O'Brien's holiday party with their son, Nick. He has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with their shocking deaths.
Videos by Wide Open Country
For the first time, O'Brien is now opening up about what happened and his feelings about it. He, like many others, is still reeling from the tragic passing of this influential and popular couple. They were well known in Tinseltown and far beyond for their passionate social activism and highly respected status in the entertainment industry.
While O'Brien prepares to host the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, he candidly discussed the Reiners with The New Yorker. He said of their alleged murders, "It's just so awful."
The Chilling Reality of the Reiners' Deaths Hit Him Hard
The former late-night host spoke warmly of the Reiners. He and his wife had a social relationship with them. They were clearly valued friends. O'Brien shared, "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...they were just such lovely people."
O'Brien added, "And to have that experience of saying good night 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... It's just very—it's so awful. It's just so awful."
O'Brien Admired Rob Reiner's Body of Work
Rob Reiner gained fame as liberal-leaning Mike "Meathead" Stivic on Norman Lear's groundbreaking 1970s sitcom All In The Family, His clashes with his curmudgeon-like father-in-law Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O'Connor, made for pure television history.
Reiner later became a distinguished film director. Among the movies he helmed were A Few Good Men, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and This Is Spinal Tap. Incisive and witty, those and other Reiner-directed films held a mirror up to our culture and to each of us.
O'Brien paid a gracious tribute to him. "I think it's seven movies that Rob Reiner made, in quick succession, that are classics. Now, if you can make one great movie, that's impressive... To make two means that you're one of the greats. To make seven... is insanity. With 'Spinal Tap' alone, if that'd been the only thing he ever did, he influenced my generation enormously."
