EXCLUSIVE: It’s now that time of the year when In Memoriam lists are being compiled and posted commemorating those who passed in 2025. For New York Times readers picking up the paper today, amidst tributes to Diane Keaton, David Lynch, Angie Stone and 20 others, two names were noticeably absent from the Gray Lady’s “The Lives They Lived” section.
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner.
For a Hollywood community deeply saddened and shaken by the December 14 murder of the Reiners, as the tributes to the long married duo from presidents, producers, directors, actors, agents and collaborators have made clear the past two weeks, the Misery director and his photographer spouse’s nonappearance on the NYT Mag’s eccentric annual tally has raised more than a few eyebrows.
“Is it because they were violently killed?” one C-Suiter texted me this AM as he sat down to read his Sunday paper. Another industry insider wondered if the Martin Scorsese penned Christmas Day op-ed on his friendship with fellow filmmaker Reiner was the substitute for a “The Lives They Lived” piece.
Neither theory is true. It was, like so many things, all about timing.
“The Lives They Lived is a New York Times Magazine feature,” the NYT’s Danielle Rhoades Ha told me today. “Though the print publication date is Dec. 16, the content was finalized and sent for publication on Dec. 11 — three days before Rob Reiner’s death,” the SVP Communications added.
In fact, with the exception of the breaking news A section, most of the often hefty NYT is fully locked in and printed days before it hits newsstands and doorstep. The vast majority of the Sunday edition’s articles are available on the paper’s website usually three or four days beforehand, including “The Lives They Lived.”
Discovered dead by their daughter Romy and a friend on December 14 at the couple’s Brentwood home, the Reiners were killed by multiple stab wounds. In the hours that followed on that first night of Hanukkah, police tracked down and arrested the Reiner’s youngest son Nick.
Set for a full hearing on January 7, the 32-year-old, who has very publicly fought drug addiction for over a decade, has now been charged with two count of first-degree murder. As the LA County DA made clear on December 16, the currently incarcerated without bail Nick Reiner faces the possibility of the death penalty or life behind bars without parole if found guilty.
Over the past two weeks, the NYT has published and posted around 50 articles on the Reiners’ deaths, legacy and reaction to their murders since that tragic night of December 14 The paper has also had detailed coverage on Nick Reiner‘s arrest and subsequent charges since the 78-year-old director and the 68-year-old photographer were reported deceased.
The last SNL of 2025 saw a on-screen tribute to Reiner, who hosted the NBC late-nighter’s third ever episode in 1975, at the end of its December 21 airing. Tributes to the When Harry Met Sally director and All in the Family actor are expected at the Golden Globes and the March 15, 2026 Oscars.
While a number of public figures from as far across the political spectrum as John Cussak to James Woods, not to mention close Renier friends like Barack and Michelle Obama (who were supposed to have dinner on December 14 with the Reiners at ex-Ambassador James Costos and Micheal Smith’s LA home) Billy Crystal, Larry David, Meg Ryan and AITF co-star Sally Struthers, have offered praise for Reiner and condolences on his death, a petulant Donald Trump has lashed out at the filmmaker twice in quick succession.
On December 15, less than 24 hours after the Reiners’ mangled remains were found, Trump called The American President director “deranged” and “bad for America” for his advocacy and critiques of the shamelessly thin skinned ex-Apprentice host.
