While a sunken-eyed, head-shaven Nick Reiner stood in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday facing two charges of first-degree murder, the gallery behind him was conspicuously empty of any family blood.
Reiner, 32, is accused of fatally stabbing his parents, Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, at their home in Brentwood on Dec. 14.
The absence of the siblings followed another glaring omission: Nick was also not mentioned in a devastating statement issued by the remaining Reiners last month, signaling a total family excommunication.
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents… is something that no one should ever experience,” the siblings said in a joint release, describing the late director and his wife as their “best friends.”
While Nick is dealing with his legal troubles, other members of the Reiner family have been spending time in Malibu, according to local sightings — a detail that has raised eyebrows given the gravity of the moment for one of their own. Romy and Jake have reportedly been residing at their family beach house in Malibu, and have been spotted strolling the beach barefoot.
The unfolding family drama only intensified today, when Nick’s scheduled arraignment was postponed for the second time after his high-profile attorney, Alan Jackson, dropped him. The legal shark is fresh off a huge victory, getting his client Karen Read acquitted for murder in 2025 for the death of her police officer boyfriend.
“We feel that we have no choice at this juncture but to withdraw as counsel and ask to be relieved,” Jackson said to Judge Theresa McGonigle.
Jackson could not comment further on the shift, citing moral and legal grounds.
As Nick was left to be hauled back to solitary confinement, Jackson told reporters: “Circumstances beyond our control, but more importantly, circumstances beyond Nick’s control, have dictated that sadly it’s made it impossible for us to continue our representation of Nick.”
Jackson said public defenders “are ready for the appointment immediately forthwith,” with Kimberly Greene taking over as his lawyer. Reiner agreed to a next court date of Feb. 23 for his arraignment.
As the case moves forward, the legal questions will be addressed by the courts. But the quiet fractures within one of Hollywood’s best-known families are already playing out in plain sight, under the glare of public scandal.
