Nick Reiner, 32, reportedly engaged in a heated argument with his parents — the late director Rob Reiner (78) and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner (68) — at a holiday party just 24 hours before they were found dead in their Brentwood home.
Entertainment site TMZ reported that Nick was in attendance at a party hosted by comedian and late-night host Conan O’Brien, and that at some point during the evening, he was involved in what was described as a “very loud argument” with both Rob and Michele — after which the couple reportedly left the party.
People magazine reported that others had confirmed there was an argument and said that Nick had been behaving strangely at O’Brien’s party. “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,” one told the outlet.
Rob and Michele had reportedly voiced concern about Nick’s behavior to a family friend who lived close by and told the New York Post, “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.”
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The friend also said that Nick was “supposedly off” the drugs, but that did not appear to be the case: “Nick has been troubled mentally for his entire life and they have tried everything to try and help him and been unable to.”
Nick had often been at odds with his parents over their insistence that he go to rehab, and his refusal to do so had led to him being homeless on several occasions. The film “Being Charlie” — which Nick co-wrote and his father directed — was semi-autobiographical and brought the two back together for a time.
“I mean, you know, we got into issues, [but] … the whole process for me, it did make me understand him a lot more and I think it made me a better father, hopefully it did,” Reiner said of his son at the time.
“When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen,” Reiner added. “We were desperate and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son.”
“We were so influenced by these people,” Michele said. “They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.”
