Conan O'Brienis getting ready to host Sunday'sOscars, which will include atributeto the late actor and filmmakerRob Reiner. Ahead of the ceremony, O'Brien opened up about the "sadness" surroundingthe lossof his close friend.
The comedian hosted a holiday party in December that Reiner and his wife, Michele, attended the night before they were found stabbed to death.
"Very simply, we had a party, we invited our really good friends and then, the next day, this terrible thing happened,"O'Brien toldThe Hollywood Reporterof his name being connected to the tragic events. "Whatever difficulties my wife and I have experienced having our name attached to it are nothing compared to the scale of the tragedy for the family and the loss of Rob and Michele. If you're a known person, your name is going to get dragged into things sometimes, but it is not a hardship. There is only sadness that they're gone."
The Reiners were found dead in their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 14, and their son Nick was subsequently arrested andchargedwith murder.Sources later told PEOPLEthat Rob and Nick hadengaged in a heated argumentat O'Brien's Dec. 13 party, with one person telling the outlet that Nick was "freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous." Another report fromNBC Newssaid that Nick's behavior left his parents and other guests feeling uncomfortable.
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O'Brien toldTHRthat he has opted not to address the loss of the Reiners on his own podcast because that felt "disrespectful." The comedian did previously open up about his relationship with the Reiners in aNew Yorkerprofile.
"I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them, and I was seeing them a lot,"he said. "My wife and I were seeing them a lot, and they were so — they were just such lovely people. And to have that experience of saying good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they're gone. … I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward."
"It's just so awful," O'Brien continued. "And I think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there — and to have that voice go quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend."
Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, and his next hearing is set for April 29.
The 2026 Oscars air Sunday on ABC at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The ceremony will also stream on Hulu.
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