Rob Reiner and his son Nick did not have a blow-out argument at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party despite reports to the contrary, a Hollywood executive who attended the Dec. 13 event told TheWrap Friday.
Anonymous reports of a shouting match between the movie legend and his addicted son the night before Rob and Michele Reiner were found murdered in their Brentwood home were published by Page Six and TMZ this week, with the New York Post calling it “big blow.” The Daily Mail reported on Friday that O’Brien told guests not to call the police about the fiery incident.
“That’s bull,” the executive told TheWrap of the Daily Mail’s reporting, bemused by the increasingly sensationalized coverage of what happened at Saturday’s party. Nick Reiner, who was living in his parent’s backyard at the time, attended O’Brien’s holiday event and was acting erratically with the A-list guests, but there was no big blow, the executive said.
The New York Times reported that accounts of a shouting match had “exploded,” TheWrap told them that O’Brien “saw no fight, no argument.”
“There was this boy walking around making people feel uncomfortable. Listening in on conversations and that kind of thing,” said the individual, who requested anonymity.
But the attendance was vehement that O’Brien and the guests did not see a shouting match between Rob and Nick Reiner, adding, “If there was a big fight with the Reiners, there were a million people I knew. Nobody mentioned it to me.”
The attendee continued: “I told Conan the next day – I said, ‘What’s all this stuff about a fight?’ He said, ‘I didn’t see any fight.'”
As for reports that Nick had a falling out with actor Bill Hader after a strange exchange at the party, the executive confirmed that the screenwriter interrupted O’Brien and Hader mid-conversation and “acted a little weird,” but the meeting ended there.
Representatives for O’Brien did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Nick Reiner, 32, was formally charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder after he was arrested Sunday as the prime suspect in the deaths of his parents, which were ruled a stabbing later in the week.
The charges came two days after they were filed in Exposition Park, near the USC campus, hours after Rob and Michele were found stabbed to death by their son, Romy, in their Brentwood home.
Reiner’s charges carry a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole — however, the death penalty decision is pending, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Tuesday.
The 32-year-old Reiner made his first appearance in court on Wednesday, where he spoke only once, answering “Yes, your honor,” before the arraignment hearing was postponed to January 7. A courtroom sketch showed Nick wearing a prison-issued blue suicide prevention vest.
Nick’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, did not share details about his client’s mental health, but asked the public on Wednesday to allow the legal process to take place “with restraint and with dignity.”
“There are very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case,” said the defense attorney. “Things need to be handled carefully but very carefully and examined and analyzed.”
On Friday, several media reports were published that Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and that his medication had been changed prior to the Reiners’ murder.
Nick Reiner is currently being held without bail pending his arraignment.
Sharon Waxman contributed to this report.
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