Jake Reiner’s 1st interview about his parents' killings, his brother's arrest, and moving forward
In his 1st sit-down interview, Jake Reiner talks about grief and moving forward.
LOS ANGELES -- Eight months after his parents were killed, Jake Reiner says the last several months have been a "living nightmare" during his first sit-down interview.
Reiner, 34, is the eldest son of legendary film director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner, who were found stabbed to death at their home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, on Dec. 14, 2025. Nick Reiner, Jake’s 32-year-old younger brother, is charged with two counts of murder.
"Nobody really understands what it's like to go through something like that until you're living it," Jake Reiner said. "It's been eight months. It feels like eight years at the same time. And it also feels like eight minutes because every moment that I wake up, I'm reminded of my reality.”
The day of the murders, Jake Reiner was at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, attending a celebration of life event for a high school friend. His younger sister, Romy Reiner, tried to call him.
"Romy called me, and I screened it, because I thought at the time, I'm in the middle of something, you know, I'll call her back," Jake Reiner said, "and then, she called immediately again, and I knew at that point that something was wrong."
“Romy told me our dad was dead, and then she said, 'I can't find mom,'" he said. “I immediately went into shock.”
Jake Reiner did not live in his father’s shadow. He had built his own career as a local news reporter, starting out on California's Central Coast before eventually reporting in Los Angeles. Still, nothing could have prepared him for his arrival at his parent’s home that night.
“As a reporter, I did it for 10 years, I came up on crime scenes all the time,” Jake Reiner said, “but when it's your crime scene, a crime scene at your childhood home, it’s like the most surreal thing I've ever seen."
That night, Jake also learned that the Los Angeles Police Department was looking at his brother, Nick, as a prime suspect in the case. When asked if he was surprised by that, Jake said he did not want to answer.
"He's in jail,” Reiner said. “It's like, I physically lost my parents, and then Nick was arrested. Now it's just me and Romy, and we have to navigate this by ourselves essentially.”
“For me, it manifests into anger. It manifests into rage, into how unfair this was, how I didn't get a say in what happened. I didn't get to stop it from happening. I had no choice in the matter. I just have to accept the reality of it. And to me, that is just one of the most infuriating parts of all of this," he said.
Jake and Romy have stayed away from the media since their parents’ deaths. They made their first public appearance on Aug. 2 at Dodger Stadium, where they took part in the ceremonial first pitch. Dodger Stadium meant a great deal to their father.
"One of the great pleasures I have is walking into Dodger Stadium. It's like I feel at peace," Rob Reiner once said. "He had season tickets for the Dodgers,” Jake Reiner said, “and we would go anywhere from three to four games a week, and it was just the greatest time with him."
"It was an emotional thing that we did. I don't know if I really could take in the moment, because everything happened kind of fast, but I was really happy that we got to do that."
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As his brother's murder case makes its way through the court system, Jake Reiner said he is focused on keeping his parents' legacy alive. He is working with the Children's Institute, an organization that serves about 30,000 children and families each year, providing early childhood education and other support programs. Reiner's aunt, Martine Singer, is the organization's president and CEO. Rob and Michele Reiner were major supporters. Rob once served as emcee of the group's annual Cape & Gown Gala.
"I feel like this place is an extension of the work that they truly cared about," Jake Reiner said.
This year’s Cape & Gown Gala will be held on Nov. 8 at the Beverly Wilshire. It will be the first in several years without Rob or Michele Reiner present.
"My dad always admitted that my mom was the person who was the aggressive type in making sure that my dad was out front with these issues. Now, he cared about these issues more than anything, but she was kind of the engine that pushed him out there to speak out for what was right," Jake Reiner said. This year, Jake will attend the gala in their place.
"It's going to be hard," he said. "I think everything that we've done so far without them has been hard and weird."
This year’s gala will also include a new honor: the Rob and Michele Reiner Champion for Change Award. It will be presented to actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who founded “My Hand In Yours,” an initiative that has raised nearly $2 million for Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Asked whether he feels pressure to carry on his parents' legacy, Jake Reiner said, "I don't necessarily know that I have this weight on my shoulders to carry on their legacy, but I do feel responsible for making sure people know them and they remember them."
He added, “I know they loved me. I know that they are proud of me, and I knew that.”
Dec. 14 will mark one year since his parents' deaths.
"I'll never understand. I don't care how it's explained to me. I don't care what facts come out. I will never understand why this happened," Jake Reiner said.
Nick Reiner's struggles with addiction and mental health were public knowledge even before the killings. In 2015, he partnered with his father on the film "Being Charlie," which Nick wrote and Rob directed. It was loosely based on Nick's own life.
"My parents had unconditional love for all three of us," Jake Reiner said. “I can tell you they never stopped wanting to help him. They never stopped helping him. And I think that that project was a way for my dad to try and connect with him."
Jake did not want to discuss how he feels about his brother now. He said he has not spoken with Nick and declined to say whether he would want to. Jake has not attended any of his brother's court hearings but has testified before the grand jury that indicted his brother. He declined to comment on Nick's attempts to access money from the family trust to pay for his defense.
For now, Jake Reiner’s focus is on helping his aunt, supporting his sister and working through his own grief, all while recognizing he is not alone in that experience.
"The worst kind of grief is your own because you're the one living through it," he said. "And so, just because I lost my parents in the way that I did, it doesn't mean that ‘you’ losing a loved one in some other way is not also devastating. You can't compare it, because it's what you're going through, and there are a lot of people out there that are living through that, and I think for the first time in my life, I see them."
