Conan O’Brien described himself as being “in shock” following the deaths of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, who were found dead in their Brentwood, California, home on December 14, 2025. O’Brien revealed his grief in a recent interview with The New Yorker, detailing the profound impact of the loss of his friends, who had attended a holiday party at his Los Angeles residence the night before their deaths.
“I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them, and I was seeing them a lot,” O’Brien told the magazine. “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 good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone.” He added, “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.”
The Reiners’ son, Nick Reiner, 32, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with their deaths. He is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court for an arraignment hearing on February 23, according to reports.
O’Brien, who is set to host the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, emphasized Reiner’s broader influence and the void left by his passing. “I think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he place himself out there—and to have that voice head quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend,” he said. The comedian and television host did not discuss the details of the ongoing legal case involving Nick Reiner during the interview.
O’Brien and his wife, Liza, had develop into increasingly close to the Reiners in recent years, according to the interview. O’Brien has long been a fan of Reiner’s function, citing films like Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, and When Harry Met Sally as classics. He reflected on Reiner’s prolific output, noting that the director made “seven movies…in quick succession, that are classics.”