On a dark day when figures from the movies, politics and culture paid loving tribute to writer/director/actor Rob Reiner following what police believe was the Hollywood legend’s killing in Los Angeles on Sunday (Dec. 14) along with his wife, Michele Reiner, late night hosts excoriated Donald Trump for his hateful comments about the beloved performer.
“You know, I have to say this is the kind of weekend that makes you wonder if things will ever feel good again,” Jimmy Kimmel said in the cold open to his show on Monday night (Dec. 15) of a weekend that also saw a mass shooting in Australia targeting a Jewish Hanukkah celebration and a mass shooting at Brown University.
“What we need in a time like this, besides common sense when it comes to guns and mental healthcare, is compassion and leadership. We did not get that from our president because he has none of it to give,” added Kimmel of his White House nemesis and frequent target of monologue jokes. “Instead we got a fool rambling about nonsense, we got a brief moment of respect for our friends in Australia, we got a brief moment of condolence followed by a ‘thing happened’ for the students at Brown and for Rob and Michele Reiner.”
Kimmel was nodding to Trump’s vituperative attack on proud progressive Reiner posted on the president’s Truth Social platform, in which he opined that Reiner’s death was “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
While former Presidents Obama and Biden offered their deepest condolences to the Reiner family and praised their the couple’s “extraordinary contributions,” with Obama saying he and former First Lady Michelle were “heartbroken” over the loss of the multi-talented Hollywood star who “gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen,” Trump referred to Reiner as “a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star.”
Speaking of himself in the third person, Trump continued his attack eulogy by claiming that avowed free speech and democracy supporter Reiner was “known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness.”
Reiner and his wife were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday afternoon and the couple’s son, Nick Reiner, 32, has been arrested in connection with their deaths, according to law enforcement.
The dark words from the president — a figure who in times past was often referred to as the “consoler-in-chief” during the nation’s most challenging times — continued on Monday when a reporter asked him if he stood by his earlier post given the blowback his comments had received, even from some typically faithful Republican lawmakers.
“Well, not a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person, as far as Trump is concerned,” Trump doubled down in making what appears to be a tragic double parricide about himself. “He said .. .that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia. He knows the Russia hoax, he was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself career-wise, he became like a deranged person, Trump Derangement Syndrome… I thought he was very bad for our country.”
Reiner was, in fact, a proud supporter of democrats and known for his selfless charitable work, including advocating for early childhood development by pushing for California’s Prop 10 in 1998, a tobacco tax that raised funds for early childhood health and education. He was also a tireless advocate for the LGBTQ+ community via his work to combat California’s Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. Reiner founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights in response to the ban, hiring a pair of lawyers whose work representing same-sex California couples helped pave the way for the Supreme Court’s landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that guaranteed the right to marry to same-sex couples.
Kimmel added, “Just when you think he can’t go any lower, he somehow finds a way to do that. His description of what happened, of course, is not at all what happened, and this is exactly what I’ve spoken about before, this rush to pin the tail on the donkey in pursuit of the Trump-friendly narrative, not to mention blaming his death on the fact that he is an outspoken liberal, insulting someone who’s just been murdered, who leaves children behind, without having any idea of what actually happened.. It’s so hateful and vile. When I first saw it, I thought it was fake. My wife showed it to me this morning. I was like, well, even for him that seemed like too much, but nothing is ever too much for him… I know from my personal interactions with Rob Reiner that he would want us to keep pointing out the loathsome atrocities that continue to ooze out of this sick and irresponsible man’s mouth.”
Speaking to Michelle Obama on his show on Monday, Kimmel noted that the Obamas were friends with the Reiners, with the former First Lady mentioning that she and the former President were slated to have dinner with the couple on the night they were found dead in their home.
Without mentioning Trump, Obama made her loving feelings about the Reiners clear, while not-so- subtly rubbishing Trump’s claims. “Unlike some people, Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know,” she said. “They’re not deranged or crazed. What they have always been are passionate people in a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on, they were the kind of people who were ready to put their actions behind what they cared about. And they cared about their family and they cared about this country and they cared about fairness and equity. And that is the truth, I do know them.”
Seth Meyers also lovingly remembered Reiner on his show on Monday night, recalling the times he was “lucky” to spend with the Spinal Tap director, who came on his show earlier this year to promote the long-awaited Spinal Tap II: The End Continues sequel. Meyers said he could have talked to Reiner for “hours” about his long, storied career in front of and behind the camera before sharing a sweet memory about attending TV legend Norman Lear’s 100th birthday celebration in 2022.
“I know this sounds like a story about Norman, but it’s also a really great story about Rob,” Meyers said of the time Reiner helped the then still-very-active Lear stay on target with his tale. “Because Rob was known, Rob had this reputation for getting the best out of people, and if you watch his films, you know that is something he had the skill with… but to see him in person and know that’s what he was like in his real life as well — it was just so truly special to see.”
Meyers acknowledged that Reiner was “no fan” of Trump, adding the by-no-familiar corollary that, of course that meant Trump was no fan of the Princess Bride director either. “Just about 12 hours after Rob and Michele had been murdered in their own home, he [Trump] wanted to take the opportunity to go on social media and post his thoughts about this tragedy. I feared this was something he was going to do,” Meyers said. “And I was pretty certain that it would cast a shadow on what was already a really dark day, but it was even worse than I could have imagined.”
And like Kimmel, who called Reiner “one of our greatest directors and patriots” while lamenting Trump’s divisive comments Meyers mused that now would be a good time to “have a leader with a moral compass.”
Jimmy Fallon also paid loving homage to Reiner on his show on Monday, recalling how other guests would “line up” around the director’s dressing room to say hi or pay tribute, noting that everyone felt they had a “personal connection” to Reiner’s work.
“He was one of the smartest and funniest people I’ve ever met. What a tremendous loss, and he leaves behind such a legacy,” Fallon said. “Thank you for all the great work, on and off screen, and continuing to be an inspiration to me and millions of people around the world. In the end, I’m gonna remember all of the laughs you’ve given us.”
Watch Kimmel, Fallon and Meyers’ monologues below.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
