The troubled son of slain director Rob Reiner is being quizzed by cops over the death, according to People magazine.
Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele, 68, were murdered at their Los Angeles home on Sunday, a source confirmed to the Daily Beast. People reported that the Los Angeles Police Department said their son Nick, 32, is alive and being questioned, but is not under arrest. In fact, at the time of writing, no one has been arrested.
The magazine had earlier reported that Nick was responsible for his parents’ deaths, citing “sources who have spoken with family members.” Police, however, have not confirmed this.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said on Sunday evening, “I don’t know anything about that.”
“That did not come from the LAPD,” Hamilton added when pressed over the report from People.
According to TMZ, Oscar-nominated director Reiner and his wife suffered wounds consistent with a knife attack. The publication reported that the couple had their throats slit during a fiery argument inside the Brentwood home.
They cite sources who said that one of Reiner’s daughters said a family member was responsible. Other sources claimed that the family member in question “should be a suspect,” according to the daughter, because they’re “dangerous.”
In 2015, Reiner directed the dramatic film Being Charlie, which was co-written by his son and focused on the real-life story of Nick’s struggles with addiction. Nick co-wrote the script with a friend from rehab.
In the movie, the titular Charlie bristles at what he sees as his parents’ hardline response to his addiction, including compulsory stays in rehabilitation—a dynamic the family said closely mirrors how Rob, Michele, and Nick Reiner handled the real-life situation.
In a 2016 interview with People, Nick described a long struggle with drug addiction that began in his early teens and ultimately left him homeless. He said he entered rehabilitation repeatedly, starting around age 15, but became increasingly estranged from home as his substance use worsened, spending extended periods living on the streets in several states.
“I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” Nick said. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”
“When I was out there, I could’ve died. It’s all luck,” Nick later said while promoting the film. “There were a lot of dark years there.”
The movie ends with a fragile truce after the father apologizes for his often unsympathetic treatment of his son—an apology Reiner said at the Toronto International Film Festival reflected one he later made to his son offscreen.
“When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen. We were desperate, and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son,” the director told the Los Angeles Times in 2015.
At a post-screening Q&A in 2016, Rob said there were “disagreements” during production and that “at times it was really rough” as the pair worked through how to portray their real-life relationship on screen. Nick added that the process “would get overwhelming” for him at times.
Near the film’s end, the father finally confronts his son. “I know you’re angry at me… but I do love you. I’m sorry,” David says, explaining that experts told him to be tough even as he watched his son “slipping away.”
“I’d rather have you alive and hating me than dead on the streets,” he adds, asking plainly: “So what do you want me to do?”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Charlie replies.
When David suggests getting away from the drugs, Charlie cuts him off. “It was never about the drugs. All I ever wanted was a way to kill the noise. But the more I used the louder it got.”
“I was part of the noise, wasn’t I?” David asks. Charlie signals “a little bit.”
Pressed again on what comes next, Charlie admits, “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.” After a pause, he adds: “I don’t hate you.”
“I know,” David says, before they embrace. As Charlie leaves, David calls after him: “You take good care of yourself.”
On creating the film with his father, Nick said it “made me feel closer to him.”
