Jake Reiner is opening up in his first interview since the deaths of his parents Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
In a new sitdown interview with KABC shared Thursday, Aug. 27, the eldest son of the late director and photographer said that the past eight months have been a "living nightmare" since his mother and father were both killed.
"Nobody really understands what it's like to go through something like that until you're living it," he said. "It's been eight months. It feels like eight years at the same time. And it also feels like eight minutes because every moment that I wake up, I'm reminded of my reality."
Beloved director Rob Reiner and his producer wife Michele were found dead from multiple sharp force injuries in their Los Angeles
home in December. Their son Nick Reiner, 32, has been charged with their killings. He is facing two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait, and he has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Rob Reiner's children
Rob and Michele Reiner shared three children: Jake, Nick and Romy. The "Princess Bride" director also adopted Tracy Reiner during his marriage to Penny Marshall.
Jake Reiner: Parents' deaths were 'unfair' and 'surreal'
In the new interview, Jake Reiner opened up about the moment he learned his parents had been killed.
"Romy called me, and I screened it, because I thought at the time, I'm in the middle of something, you know, I'll call her back, and then, she called immediately again, and I knew at that point that something was wrong," Reiner said. "Romy told me our dad was dead, and then she said, 'I can't find mom.' I immediately went into shock."
Reiner shared that stepping onto a "crime scene at your childhood home" is "the most surreal thing I've ever seen," and he opened up about the anger he has felt.
"For me, it manifests into anger," he said. "It manifests into rage, into how unfair this was, how I didn't get a say in what happened. I didn't get to stop it from happening. I had no choice in the matter. I just have to accept the reality of it. And to me, that is just one of the most infuriating parts of all of this."
Reiner also told KABC that he "will never understand why this happened," adding that his parents had "unconditional love for all three" of their kids.
"I can tell you they never stopped wanting to help him. They never stopped helping him," he said of Nick Reiner. Jake Reiner said he has not spoken with his brother.
Jake Reiner previously penned an emotional essay about his parents' death in April. In a Substack piece titled "Mom and Dad," he wrote, "Nothing can prepare you for what it feels like to lose both parents instantly at the same time. It’s too devastating to comprehend. I still wake up every morning having to convince myself that, no, it's not a dream. This truly is my living nightmare."
In the piece, he also urged the public to show for "love and compassion" for his family.
"I understand that people have questions about what happened. Some of those answers will come in time," Reiner wrote. "But some parts of this belong only to our family, and keeping them private is the only way to protect what little remains of something that was taken from us."
Reiner's new interview comes after officials released the grand jury's formal indictment of Nick Reiner earlier this month. At the time, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement, "This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing."
Contributing: Liza Esquibias and KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jake Reiner, Rob and Michele's son, speaks out in first interview
