Rob Reiner and his son Nick did not come to blows at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party, despite widespread reports to the contrary, a Hollywood executive who attended the Dec. 13 event told TheWrap Friday.
Anonymous reports of a disruptive fight between the film legend and his addict son the night before Rob and Michele Reiner were found murdered in their Brentwood home have trickled out from the likes of Page Six and TMZ this week. The Daily Mail reporting Friday that O’Brien talked guests out of calling the police on the heated, disruptive incident.
But following reports from the New York Times that such accounts are “overblown,” TheWrap was told that O’Brien “saw no fight, no argument.”
“That’s bulls–t,” the executive told TheWrap of the Daily Mail’s reporting, expressing disdain at the increasingly hysterical coverage of what happened at the Saturday fête. Nick Reiner, who was living in his parent’s back house at the time, did attend O’Brien’s holiday event and was acting erratically to the A-list guests, but there was no major blowout, the executive said.
“There was this kid walking around making people feel uncomfortable. Eavesdropping on conversations and that kind of thing,” the individual, requesting anonymity, said.
But the attendee was vehement that O’Brien and guests did not witness an argument between Rob and Nick Reiner, adding, “If there had been a big fight with the Reiners, there were a million people there I knew. No one mentioned to me.
“I said to Conan the next day – I said, ‘What is all this stuff about a fight?’ He said, ‘I saw no fight.’”
As for reports that Nick had a tiff with actor Bill Hader after a bizarre exchange at the party, the executive confirmed the screenwriter interrupted O’Brien and Hader mid-conversation and “acted a little strange,” but the encounter cut short there.
Nick Reiner, 32, was formally charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder after being arrested on Sunday as the main suspect in his parents’ deaths, which were ruled later in the week as homicide by stabbing.
The charges came two days after he was picked up in Exposition Park, near the USC campus, hours after Rob and Michele were found by their daughter, Romy, stabbed to death in their Brentwood home.
Reiner’s charges carry a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole — however, the decision regarding the death penalty is still 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, responding “Yes, your honor,” before the arraignment hearing was postponed to Jan. 7. A courtroom sketch showed Nick appearing in a blue jail-issued suicide prevention vest.
Nick’s attorney, Alan Jackson, has not shared specifics regarding his client’s mental health, but asked the public on Wednesday to allow the legal process to unfold “with restraint and with dignity.”
“There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case,” the defense attorney said. “Things need to be thoroughly but very carefully dealt with and examined and analyzed.”
On Friday, multiple media reports found that Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and that his medication had changed before the Reiners’ murder.
Nick Reiner is currently being held without bail pending his arraignment.
Sharon Waxman contributed to this report.
The post No Reiner Fight at Conan O’Brien’s Party, Says Attendee: ‘It’s Bulls–t’ | Exclusive appeared first on TheWrap.
