Former First Lady Michelle Obama revealed that she and her husband, Barack Obama, had planned to meet Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his wife Michele the very night they were found dead in Los Angeles.
She spoke warmly of their longstanding friendship, describing the couple as “some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know.”
Michelle Obama defends the Reiners
Mrs. Obama also used her platform to push back gently against public commentary that she felt mischaracterized Rob Reiner’s legacy. Her remarks were widely reported as an effort to honor her friends with respect and dignity during a moment of profound loss.
“We’ve known them for many, many years and we were supposed to be seeing them that night — last night — and we got the news,” Mrs. Obama said on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on Monday night, according to The Daily Beast.
Obama added that the Reiners were “some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know.”
The New York Times bestselling author of Becoming directly took issue with the president’s taunt that Reiner, a fierce Trump critic, had suffered from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Donald Trump lambasted Rob Reiner after his death
On Truth Social, Trump said Reiner was a washed-up Hollywood big shot who obsessed over his administration.
“Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” Trump wrote on the social media platform.
Obama refutes Trump
Obama vehemently rebuked Trump’s incendiary remarks about the Reiners.
“They’re not deranged or crazed. What they have always been are passionate people in a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on,” she said. “They were the kind of people who were ready to put their actions behind what they cared about — and they cared about their family, and they cared about this country, and they cared about fairness and equity. That is the truth. I do know them.”
The Reiners’ son is suspected of killing his parents
The Reiners were reportedly found stabbed to death inside the mansion in Los Angeles’s wealthy Brentwood neighborhood on Sunday, Dec. 14. The Los Angeles Police Department is treating the death as a homicide. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been arrested for their deaths and being held on $4 million bond. Their deaths have sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and beyond.
A devoted partnership in film and life
Rob Reiner’s name was synonymous with some of the most enduring films of the late 20th century, including This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and A Few Good Men. His career began in front of the camera in the seminal sitcom “All in the Family,” and blossomed behind it as one of America’s most respected directors.
Together the Reiners raised three children — Romy, Jake, and Nick — but the latter child had well-documented battles with severe mental health challenges, drug addiction and homelessness.
Hollywood and national mourning
Tributes have poured in from across the entertainment and political spectrum. Friends described the Reiners as warm, passionate, and deeply committed to both their craft and one another. Longtime friend Maria Shriver said the couple “never stopped trying to be really good parents” and noted how much they loved their children, their friends, and their country.
Reflecting on legacy amid loss
In the days following the tragedy, the world has grappled with the suddenness of their deaths and the complexity of the circumstances. For many, the Reiners embodied the promise of creativity married to compassion — artists whose work shaped culture and friendships that spanned decades.