- - Billy Crystal Breaks Silence on Rob Reiner's Death in a Shared Tribute from Albert Brooks, Larry David and More: 'We Will Miss Them Forever'

Jack Smart, Scott HuverDecember 17, 2025 at 5:03 AM

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Billy Crystal and his wife Janice Crystal along with Larry David, Albert Brooks and more issued a shared statement in tribute to Rob Reiner after the director's tragic death

The tribute reflected on the legacy of the When Harry Met Sally director and Castle Rock Entertainment co-founder

"Rob was also a passionate, brave citizen, who not only cared for this country he loved, he did everything he could to make it better and with his loving wife Michele, he had the perfect partner," the statement reads

Billy Crystal has broken his silence on the tragic deaths of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, whose bodies were found in their bedroom on Sunday, Dec. 14.

The When Harry Met Sally star issued a shared statement along with his wife Janice Crystal, Albert and Kimberly Brooks, Martin Short, Alan and Robin Zweibel, Larry David and Ashley Underwood, Marc Shaiman and Lou Mirabal, Barry and Diana Levinson and Ambassador James Costos and Michael Smith.

In the statement, Crystal, 77, along with Reiner's collaborators and friends reflected on the director and Castle Rock Entertainment co-founder's prolific legacy. “Going to the movies in a dark theater filled with strangers having a common experience, laughing, crying, screaming in fear, or watching an intense drama unfold is still an unforgettable thrill," the statement begins, which was issued to the . "Tell us a story audiences demand of us. Absorbing all he had learned from his father Carl and his mentor Norman Lear, Rob Reiner not only was a great comic actor, he became a master story teller. There is no other director who has his range. From comedy to drama to ‘mockumentary’ to documentary he was always at the top of his game. He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films."

Crystal, David, Brooks and more went on to write of Reiner, who was 78 at the time of his death, “His comedic touch was beyond compare, his love of getting the music of the dialogue just right, and his sharpening of the edge of a drama was simply elegant. For the actors, he loved them. For the writers he made them better. His greatest gift was freedom. If you had an idea, he listened, he brought you into the process. They always felt they were working as a team. To be in his hands as a film maker was a privilege but that is only part of his legacy.”

The tribute also captured Reiner as an individual, stating, “Rob was also a passionate, brave citizen, who not only cared for this country he loved, he did everything he could to make it better and with his loving wife Michele, he had the perfect partner. Strong and determined, Michele and Rob Reiner devoted a great deal of their lives for the betterment of our fellow citizens... They were a special force together-dynamic, unselfish and inspiring. We were their friends, and we will miss them forever."

The statement concludes, “There is a line from one of Rob’s favorite films, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ ‘Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?’ You have no idea.”

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Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal

Reiner and his wife Michele, who was 70, were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14 after authorities responded to a medical aid call. The couple's son, Nick, was later questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division and will be formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special allegation of using a knife in connection with his parents' death.

Nick is being held without bail at Los Angeles' Men's Central Jail, his attorney, Alan Jackson said. He was initially supposed to appear in court Tuesday, but Jackson said his client had not yet been medically cleared.

Rob and Michele had been married since 1989 and had three children together: Jake, Romy and Nick. Rob also adopted Tracy, the daughter of his first wife, Penny Marshall.

In his final interview with PEOPLE at a Sept. 9 screening of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, Reiner said in reference to 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, “We thought, ‘Let's take a look at this again.' "

The actor-filmmaker was in high spirits sharing the story of why over 41 years lapsed between his feature directorial debut and its sequel. “We never intended to do a sequel,” the Emmy winner said. The bar was too “high,” he said, “because it's become kind of this classic.”

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Billy Crystal (L) and Rob Reiner

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Reiner went on to speak about his friends and collaborators Crystal and Brooks. “I'm lucky because Albert, I still see Albert [Brooks – they went to Beverly Hills High School together], I still see Billy [Crystal], I had breakfast with him two days ago," Reiner said, adding, "Chris Guest is a dear friend. As you get older, you need them more than you ever thought. I'm lucky that I have people that I can hang out with that, as Chris used to say in the old days, you can schnadel with a little bit, that you can do schtick with.”

Reiner also reflected on his own legacy, telling PEOPLE, “I don't think about [Hollywood legacy] so much. I think about that ‘be here now’ thing. I'm just right here. I only think about what it is I want to do now and what ideas I have."

He went on to say, "Listen, if I'm going to think about the way things were done in Hollywood, it can get pretty depressing because the movie business is tough. Television came in, that hurt the movie business. Then you've got DVDs and videos and now streaming. It's harder to get people to go in the theater. For me, for a storyteller, you want people to pay attention. I read this book years ago, it was a biography, autobiography by Frank Capra, and he said, and I always take this to heart, he said, ‘You are asking people to pay money to go into a darkened room with strangers for two hours. You better put something up there that engages them, that grips them, that tells a story.’ I always try to think that way. I don't always succeed, but I try to think in those terms.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”