Jake Reiner fondly remembered his famous parents as he returned to his podcast for the first time since their shock deaths late last year.
Rob and Michelle Reiner were both slaughtered inside their Los Angeles home in December, with Jake’s younger brother, Nick, 32, charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
While on his baseball-themed podcast The Incline: Dodgers this week, Jake, 35, thanked everyone for their support ‘since everything’s happened.’
‘I couldn’t appreciate that more,’ Jake said. ‘I felt it was time to come back to the podcast. I was thinking about it for a really long time and [have] been talking to [co-host] Kevin [Klein] about it for a while now.’
Jake explained that his dad Rob, who was the famed director of films including Stand By Me and When Harry Met Sally, was a diehard Dodgers fan.
‘It’s something that I’ve always connected with with my dad, first and foremost, and it’s something that I will continue to connect with him for the rest of my life,’ he stated.
Rob Reiner’s son Jake remembered his father fondly when he returned to his podcast The Incline: Dodgers this week. Seen in September
This comes five months after his parents were brutally murdered in their home. Jake’s brother Nick was arrested and later charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with their deaths, and he has since pleaded not guilty
‘When it comes to the Dodgers, you know, my first love, is something that I’ve always connected with my dad first and foremost, and it’s something that I will continue to connect with him for the rest of my life,’ Jake previously told People.
In April, Jake described the ‘too impossible to process’ moment he learned his parents had been murdered.
In a Substack essay, he shared the shock of discovering his brother was accused of carrying out the killings. He also revealed his sister, Romy, 28, informed him of their parents’ deaths.
Jake recounted traveling to the house in a taxi, describing the 45-minute journey ‘in a trance’ as he tried to process what had happened.
‘The only thing I could focus on was that I needed to get to my childhood home. I needed to get to my sister. I needed to figure out what the hell just happened,’ he wrote.
‘I was robbed of so many things that day. My parents won’t be at my wedding, they won’t get to hold their future grandchild, and they won’t get to see me have the successful career I’m still seeking. It simultaneously breaks my heart and enrages me.’
Left to right, Romy Reiner, Nick and Jake in a photo posted by Jake in 2016
Left to right, Michele, Rob, Jake, Romy and Nick at the 41st annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall in 2014, in New York
Jake wrote the scale of the loss was compounded by the accusation against his brother.
He said: ‘We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable.
‘Sure, any loss of a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the center of it. It’s almost too impossible to process.’
Jake said the months since the killings have been marked by ongoing grief and disbelief.
In February Nick plead not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents
He added: ‘Every day since then has been horrendous. Every meeting we take, every person we talk to, every tear we shed, every movement we make is connected to our parents being murdered.’
Jake described the continuing impact on himself and Romy, writing the reality of the loss remains constant.
He said: ‘Because they weren’t your parents, it might be easier to move forward or even forget for a moment about what happened that day. But for us, it’s every single day.’
Paying tribute, Jake said his parents were central to his life. He added: ‘They are my guiding lights, the foundation of who I am as a human being, and the most giving people I have ever known.’
