EXCLUSIVE: Read Rob Reiner's Tortured Son Nick's Chilling Confession About Drug Addiction — Including How He Chose Homelessness Over Rehab and Gambled With His Life
Nick Reiner's past comments on drug addiction have resurfaced following his parents' death.
Dec. 15 2025, Published 3:20 p.m. ET
Rob Reiner's tormented son – who was arrested for his parents' bloodbath murder – once confessed he refused to go to rehab to tackle his all-consuming drug addiction, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Filmmaking hero Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead on Sunday, December 14, inside their Los Angeles residence, with the pair knifed to death, and sources said they had their throats cut after a bust-up with a family member "boiled over."
Homicide Probe Shakes Hollywood
Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found stabbed to death inside their Los Angeles home.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the deaths as a homicide after the couple was discovered by their daughter, Romy Reiner, 28.
In a statement, Reiner's family said, “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time."
LAPD deputy chief Alan Hamilton said the investigation is being handled by the department’s Robbery Homicide Division, adding the probe would "continue over the coming days."
The shock has brought back into focus a 2016 interview in which Nick spoke with striking candor about his long struggle with drug addiction, his refusal to return to rehab, and the period when that decision left him homeless. In the frank chat, Nick explained he was first sent to rehab around his 15th birthday and that by the age of 22, he had been through 17 treatment programs.
Those experiences later informed Being Charlie, the semi-autobiographical drama he co-wrote and which Rob directed.
"It's not my life,” Nick said of the film, "but I went to a lot of these places, so I had a lot of these stories.”
Daughter Romy Reiner discovered her parents after the fatal attack
Choosing the Streets Over Rehab
He also described a critical and bleak moment when he chose not to return to treatment.
"If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they were suggesting, then I had to be homeless," he said. Nick recounted months spent moving between states with no stable shelter.
"I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas," Nick recalled at the time. "I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun."
He said the grim period followed directly from his rejecting rehab and losing the safety net provided by his family, forcing him into shelters and onto the streets.
Nick Reiner admitted he went through 17 rehab programs by the age of 22.
Despite the hardship, Nick said the experience shaped him. "That made me who I am now, having to deal with that stuff," he said. Returning home, he added, was not easy.
"Now, I've been home for a really long time, and I’ve sort of gotten acclimated back to being in L.A. and being around my family," he said. "But there were a lot of dark years there."
Nick also reflected on the risks he faced.
"When I was out there, I could’ve died," he said. "It's all luck. You roll the dice, and you hope you make it."
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Nick Reiner co-wrote the semi-autobiographical film 'Being Charlie' about addiction.
At the time of the interview, Nick said his focus was sobriety and creative work, hoping never to return to the streets again.
Police sealed off the Reiner residence as investigators worked inside the property in the wake of the couple's deaths. The Los Angeles Fire Department was called to the home shortly after 3.30 pm and found Reiner and his wife dead.
Police have treated the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner as a homicide.
