A resurfaced podcast interview with Rob Reiner’s son, Nick, that was recorded in September 2016 sheds new light on what Nick’s relationship with the famed director was really like. Nick is charged with the murders of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner, and currently being held at the Twin Towers jail in Los Angeles.
The 32-year-old, who has struggled with mental health and addiction issues since his teenage years, was an open book on Episode 45 of the addiction recovery-themed podcast “Dopey.” During the interview, he talked about the pressure of being involved with “Being Charlie,” the semi auto-biographical movie he co-wrote with his dad. It was released four months before Nick spoke on the podcast.
Nick Reiner Said ‘Being Charlie’ Media Tour Left Him Conflicted
Getty“The movie wasn’t big, but I think the topic was big. It was just released in like a couple theaters,” he said.
When asked by the podcast host whether he liked the project, he admitted, “I feel like I didn’t get to express how I truly felt in it.” He said he had one-third creative control “technically, but one-eighth realistically.”
The co-host pointed out, “In order to promote the movie, you kind of have to be sober. You kind of have to be a poster boy for recovery. And you didn’t wanna be that.”
Nick replied, “I said to them, ‘I’m not in the position to do this. I’m not a quote-unquote sober guy. I’m gonna have to go onto these talk shows.’ They said, ‘You’ve got to do it. They want the whole father-son angle.’ I went out there and I realized, ‘Look, I have a voice to some degree. I’m gonna say what I’ve got to say while I’m here.'”
The host then told Nick, “I’m sure it put you in a really bad spot,” to which he replied, “It did. It was hard. It was uncomfortable. But I felt like it was part of the job. Part of what I had to do.”
Nick Reiner Called His Parents ‘Very Understanding’
GettyWhen the “Dopey” host asked Nick if he would get high after his media appearances related to his and his father’s film, he replied, “Yeah, I would. I’d smoke a joint on the roof of my apartment. I would not ever go onto these things coked up or anything like that. I’d try to be straight, and use the appearance as my motivation to be straight. Do as best I could on it, and then afterwards, enjoy a joint.”
Nick said he stayed away from harder substances during at the time, and hadn’t done coke “in three to four years.”
Nick said his dad knew he was “getting stoned,” but didn’t get angry about it. “He’s a hippie,” Nick said, before praising his parents and saying, “They’re very understanding.”
Where to Watch the TMZ Nick Reiner Special
“TMZ Investigates: The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” premiered tonight, January 9, at 8 p.m. on Fox. But if you missed it, don’t worry. The special investigation will be available for streaming on Hulu starting tomorrow, Saturday, January 10.
TMZ announced the special would cover Nick’s “mental breakdown” after having his psychiatric medications for schizoaffective disorder rapidly changed.
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