Conan O’Brien Reacts to Rob Reiner’s ‘Awful’ Death After Director Fought With Son Nick at His Party

Conan O’Brien is speaking out for the first time since Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner tragically passed away on December 14.

In an interview with The New Yorker, published Friday, February 20, the comedian, 62, shed light on his relationship with the famed director and his wife.

“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 outlet. “My wife and I were seeing them a lot, and they were so — they were just such lovely people.”

The former late-night talk show host also addressed seeing the couple at his holiday party on Saturday, December 13, hours before their deaths on Sunday, December 14.

Sources previously told TMZ that Rob and his son, Nick — who has struggled with substance abuse and his mental health — got into a “very loud argument” at the soirée, and that the Emmy Award winner and his wife left afterward.

“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,” the If I Had Legs I’d Kick You star admitted. “I mean, there’s no other word for it. It’s just very — it’s so awful. It’s just so awful.”

“And I think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there — and to have that voice go quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend,” he added.

As the National Enquirer previously reported, after Rob and Michelle were found dead in their Brentwood home, Nick was arrested that evening in Exposition Park and charged with murdering his parents, according to a news release from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.

Nick is currently behind bars at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. Attorney Alan Jackson originally represented him, but he resigned on January 7. Nick — who now has a public defender — will appear in court on February 23 for his arraignment.

Nick has not yet entered a plea.

On January 7, Jackson reiterated his belief in his former client’s innocence. “What we’ve learned and you can take this to the bank, is that pursuant to the laws of this state, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder,” he said. “Print that. We wish him the very very best moving forward.”