Chelsea Handler paused her opening monologue at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night to honor filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, three weeks after the couple were found killed in their Los Angeles home. Speaking to a room of nominees and industry executives at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Handler called Reiner “the nicest guy in Hollywood,” then described a man she said made strangers feel like old friends.
“Anyone who ever spent time with Rob Reiner knows that the minute that you met him, he felt like an old friend,” Handler said, adding that he stayed “present” and “funny” in conversation and asked “tons of questions,” from politics to movies to “the latest beauty trends.” She recounted a recent text exchange after a dinner in which Reiner thanked her for explaining plastic surgery, writing that it was “very edifying.” Handler told the crowd the couple threw themselves into “important causes,” rooted in what she described as “one basic idea: decency,” and urged the room to treat the night as a reminder of what they “represented and fought so hard for.”
Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found dead on Dec. 14 in Brentwood, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner, which listed the cause as multiple sharp-force injuries and ruled the deaths homicides. Their son, Nick Reiner, 32, was arrested that day and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, authorities and court records said. He remains in custody without bail, with an arraignment scheduled for Jan. 7. Officials have not announced a motive.
Investigators have sought to tighten the flow of case details. A judge granted a court order requested by the Los Angeles Police Department that sealed medical examiner records tied to the killings “until further notice,” with police saying the move protects investigative integrity rather than limiting transparency.
Friends and collaborators have framed Reiner’s legacy around range and craft as the case proceeds. In a statement released to The Associated Press, a group including Billy Crystal, Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David wrote that Reiner grew from comic actor into a “master storyteller,” adding, “There is no other director who has his range.”
