The second weekend of the year marked the second weekend of awards ceremonies, with the 83rd annual Golden Globes honoring big winners like The Pitt, One Battle After Another and Adolescence, among many others. (If anyone was giving out awards for fashion winners like JLo’s sheer dress and Selena Gomez’s feathery look, it never would have ended.) Host Nikki Glaser spent much of the night poking fun at some A-list celebs while roasting others, and capped the night off with a tribute to the late Rob Reiner.
Former All in the Family co-star and Misery director Rob Reiner and wife Michele Singer were found dead in their home in mid-December 2025, the victims of an apparent homicide that son Nick Reiner is currently awaiting trial, having just lost his defense attorney. The past month has been full of impassioned reflections and anecdotes about Reiner’s lengthy and successful career, so Glaser was careful not to go overboard with her own hat-tip: she closed the show out with a Spinal Tap cap atop her head, and she opined that the night had reached an “11.”
The comedian’s somewhat subtle salute to the Hollywood icon was in stark contrast to the amusing and occasionally scathing jokes made during her opening monologue. Speaking with USA Today ahead of the ceremony, she addressed that she wanted to bring in that nod in part due to the Golden Globes not featuring an “In Memoriam” segment honoring those in the industry. As she put it:
There's not a whole section set aside to honor everyone we've lost. But I have something planned that I'm going to do in my own way to just acknowledge (Reiner) and celebrate him in my own way.
At the time, she wasn't eager to share the specfics behind her plans, but I think her own way was a perfectly sweet and non-disruptive way to handle things. Would it have also been cool to have Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer take the stage as Spinal Tap for a full-length tribute concert? Well duh, but I can't imagine that would properly count as a Golden Globes event.
In any case, Nikki Glaser further explained why she wanted to pay respects on-screen to the director, despite not having the lengthiest and closest relationship with him. As she put it:
I knew (Reiner), but not that well. I'm not going to linger on it too much because I think that's what we've been doing for the past few weeks. But obviously, I thought if something happened to me and Rob Reiner was hosting a show, given our relationship, how would I want him to handle it? I think I landed on something that I feel he would do for me, too.
Now I'd love to know what kind of hat Rob Reiner would wear to celebrate Glaser's career. Maybe a "Sure, I'll Tap" hat utilizing the This Is Spinal Tap font? Or maybe he would have delivered the most softballed roast since Norm Macdonald's dad-joke tribute to Bob Saget.
One week prior to the Globes, at the Critics Choice Awards, Sinners director Ryan Coogler shared his own emotional tribute to Rob Reiner. Meanwhile other celebs have stepped up in helping Rob and Michele’s other children, Jake and Romy Reiner, during the aftermath of the shocking crimes.
