In the final hours before allegedly taking the lives of his parents, Rob Reiner’s son Nick spent behaving in ways that guests at an A-list Hollywood party now describe as unsettling and deeply alarming.
Less than a day before Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found fatally stabbed inside their Brentwood home, their 32-year-old son attended Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party alongside them.
What he said to celebrities that night, and how he behaved, has since taken on disturbing new weight after he was charged with two counts of first-degree homicide, particularly as details about why he was at the party in the first place have surfaced
He faces the possibility of capital punishment if convicted.
New details have emerged about why Nick Reiner attended Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party with his parents
According to the Wall Street Journal, Nick approached actor Bill Hader during the gathering and asked him a series of blunt questions.
“What’s your name? What’s your last name? Are you famous?” Nick asked, the outlet reported.
Rob Reiner had personally introduced his son to Hader earlier in the evening. Witnesses said the exchange quickly became uncomfortable.
Multiple guests said Nick repeatedly asked the same questions to other attendees throughout the night, fixating on status and fame. Sources told People Magazine that he was “freaking everyone out.”
One witness told NBC News that Nick interrupted Hader while the actor was in, what he described as, a private conversation. When Hader told him so, Nick reportedly stood in place, stared, and then stormed off, leaving nearby guests unnerved.
Another source told TMZ that Nick stood out sharply at the formal gathering because he was wearing a hoodie and looked disheveled – a stark contrast to the dress code of the star-studded event.
Page Six reported that Nick kept pestering partygoers with the same line of questioning until he was eventually asked to leave O’Brien’s home.
The couple wanted to keep an eye on their son as his behavior had become increasingly erratic
As the timeline of the tragedy became clearer, many started asking themselves why Nick was at the party in the first place.
Several outlets, including Rolling Stone, People, TMZ, and the Daily Mail, all converge on the same point:
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner specifically asked if they could bring Nick with them to the party because they were concerned about his mental state.
Insiders said they wanted to “keep an eye on him.”
As the evening progressed, witnesses say tensions between Nick and his parents escalated.
As Bored Panda reported, Rob and Michele Reiner became involved in a “very loud argument” with their son during the party. New details confirm the confrontation centered on Nick’s refusal to return to rehab.
An old family friend told reporters that although Nick was supposedly sober at the time, it appeared “not so much off them” that night.
The argument ended with the Reiners leaving the party early.
Less than 24 hours later, the couple would be found lifeless.
Nick had reportedly resumed his substance use in the months leading up to the tragedy
On Sunday afternoon, Rob and Michele Reiner were discovered fatally wounded inside their $13.5 million Brentwood mansion by their daughter, Romy Reiner, 28.
She immediately told investigators that her brother should be considered a suspect, describing him as “dangerous.”
Nick Reiner was arrested later that night at a Los Angeles subway station roughly 15 miles from his parents’ home. As Bored Panda reported Tuesday (December 16), he is set to be charged with homicide.
Nick is currently being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, placed on constant watch.
Following his arrest, further details emerged about Nick’s long-standing struggles.
Sources told the Daily Mail that Nick had been living in his parents’ guesthouse for the past five years, where his behavior had grown increasingly volatile. One source described him as a “ticking time b*mb.”
“He would do m*th and not sleep for days, and then have outbursts, breaking things, punching walls,” the source said. “His dr*g use was getting worse and his parents wanted him out.”
Nick himself spoke publicly about his struggles in a 2016 interview with People Magazine, admitting he had entered rehab around age 15 and returned 17 more times over the next four years. He also described periods of homelessness across multiple states.
“I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” he said. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”
Friends and family insiders say warning signs had been present for years
Celebrity yoga instructor Alanna Zabel, who worked with the Reiner family for nearly a decade, said Nick displayed severe emotional outbursts from a young age.
“Nicky would barge in like the world was on fire, screaming, into our yoga sessions,” she recalled. “It was disruptive. I have never seen a child like it.”
Zabel said she held private sessions with Nick for a year in an attempt to help him regulate his emotions and confirmed that the family sought professional help early on.
“The fact that they were seeing a family therapist shows how much they cared,” she said. “They were trying to figure it out.”
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