EXCLUSIVE: Billy Crystal Opens Up About Tragedy and His Crisis of Faith
Billy Crystal talks about tragedy and his crisis of faith, sharing a personal account of his ordeal.
Nov. 6 2026, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Funnyman Billy Crystal has spent a lifetime making audiences laugh, but a barrage of losses has shaken the 78-year-old City Slickers star's faith in the top comic in the sky, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
A crushed Crystal stunned fans in a recent interview when he sadly recalled losing his Pacific Palisades home in the Los Angeles wildfires and suffering the loss of longtime friend Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, who were killed in a brutal murder last December.
Billy Crystal Reveals Crisis of Faith
Billy Crystal recalled the loss of longtime friend Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele.
Asked by CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent Tracy Smith if he still talks to God, Crystal delivered a sad punchline, saying "No, 'cause I – I don't trust him."
When asked if he was serious, he doubled down.
"Yeah. Too many bad things have happened," he explained. "The Earth is in bad shape, this is a weird, scary time. So no, not anymore."
Billy Finds Humor Amid Heartbreak
Tracy Smith asked Crystal if he still talks to God, and he said he no longer does.
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The painful admission marks a dramatic change for Billy, who once explored his relationship with God in his acclaimed 2004 Broadway show, 700 Sundays, inspired by the death of his father when he was just 15.
But in his new one-man show, 860, Crystal is confronting the latest devastating chapters in his once charmed life – and says he's still trying to laugh his way through the darkness.
"That's what I do. You have to, man. You've gotta," he said of using humor to survive. "It's a healer. It always has been that way."
He added: "I've absorbed the biggest pains that people can go through, the loss of home, the loss of friends. It's nightmares."
