EXCLUSIVE: Bill Maher Reveals Tragic Secret About Hollywood That Rob Reiner Confronted in His Last Days
Bill Maher revealed Rob Reiner was going through a Hollywood crisis at the time of his murder.
Dec. 31 2025, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Even though Rob Reiner directed some of Hollywood's most beloved movies before his gruesome murder, he had only helmed two films since 2017, and pal Bill Maher shared the devastating reason why, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"The discussions we had in recent years were a lot about him not being able to get funding," Maher, 69, shared on his Club Random podcast about how Reiner couldn't get studios to cough up the money for new projects.
'This Town Is Very Ageist'
Maher gushed over Reiner's 'charisma' and 'presence' on his podcast.
Reiner's impressive directing resume included such beloved hits as The Princess Bride, Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, and The American President.
However, those smashes were released in the 1980s and 1990s, and Maher said the Hollywood icon was one of several in his age group who struggled getting financing for new projects.
"He's not the only director of a certain age who's told me that," the Real Time host told guest John Stamos when discussing Reiner, who was 78 when he and wife Michele were murdered allegedly by their troubled son Nick.
"And I just was saying this town is very ageist and not very nice to people who have done amazing... I mean he's got a pretty iconic resume of movies, but I remember him saying, 'You know if it's not spandex, and, you know, it's very hard for even somebody of his stature to get that funding."
Directing Roles Dried Up
Reiner appeared on Maher's podcast in September to promote his new 'Spinal Tap' film.
While Rob didn't appear to have tried to give his other children, son Jake and daughter Romy, a leg up in Hollywood with their acting careers, he went out of his way for disturbed nepo baby Nick, 32.
The Bronx native directed a screenplay Nick cowrote about his struggles with drug addiction, which included 18 trips to rehab as well as periods of homelessness. Their critically panned film, Being Charlie, was released in 2015.
After that, Rob directed Woody Harrelson in 2016's LBJ and teamed up with him again for the 2017 journalism thriller Shock and Awe.
The All in the Family star's directing resume greatly dried up after that. He directed a documentary about his comedian-actor pal Albert Brooks, which HBO released in 2023. Rob's final directing project was a sequel to his 1984 cult classic mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues was released in September.
When he wasn't directing, Reiner turned back to acting work for creativity.
When Rob wasn't getting behind the camera, he was returning to his acting roots. He played Albert Schnurr in four episodes of FX's The Bear Season 4 earlier this year.
Rob also appeared in several episodes of the CBS All Access legal drama The Good Fight in the late 2010s.
Nick Reiner's Demons
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Nick Reiner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing his parents.
Rob and Michele's battle to save Nick from his demons took up plenty of their time.
He was living in his parents' guest house, the same one the unemployed former screenwriter admitted to violently trashing while in a drug-induced rampage during a 2018 interview, at the time of the murders.
The Reiners were so afraid of leaving Nick home alone and unattended that they brought him along to Conan O'Brien's Christmas party on December 13.
There, he reportedly was "freaking everyone out" with his antisocial conduct before Rob pulled his son aside, and they got into a "loud argument" about Nick's behavior that other A-list guests overheard.
Rob and Michele were found stabbed to death in their bed with their throats slit the following day by Romy, 28.
Nick was arrested hours later and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for allegedly killing his parents.
