Conan O’Brien honors late friends Rob and Michele Reiner, says their absence feels ‘very hollow’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Conan O’Brien has paid a heartfelt tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner following their deaths late last year.

Rob and Michele were found dead at their Los Angeles home in December 2025. Their son, Nick Reiner, is currently facing charges in connection with their murders.

Conan O’Brien pays tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner

Nearly a year later, O’Brien honored the late couple at the Children’s Institute’s 2026 annual Cape & Gown Gala, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Sunday, November 8.

The 63-year-old television host said, according to PEOPLE, “It’s so devastating and surreal that Rob and Michele are not with us anymore. I think multiple times a week, it will hit me that they’re not here. It leaves you feeling very hollow.”

He also spoke about the Reiners’ charitable work. O’Brien continued, “This event, something that they cared about so much, the Children’s Institute, is just a way to imagine and realize that they’re here and they’re working.”

“They started something, and we keep them with us. We keep them close if we join in and do the work because that’s what they were all about,” the comedian added.

Conan O’Brien recalls final night with Rob and Michele Reiner

This comes months after O’Brien revealed that Rob and Michele Reiner had spent time with him just one night before their deaths.

He shared, “I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them. They were just such lovely people. And to have that experience of saying good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone…. I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward. I mean, there’s no other word for it.”

The podcaster described Rob and Michele Reiner’s deaths as “awful” and said that losing an outspoken advocate for different causes “in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend.”

Meanwhile, at the event, Michele’s sister, Martine Singer, also paid tribute to her and her brother-in-law.

She said, “Their love was generous, fierce and unconditional: if they loved you, you knew it. What’s amazing is that their love extended to all children. Michele and Rob were a force field."

"Our mission is to continue expressing that outrage, that sense of urgency, and do something with our own loud voices. That’s how we amplify the genius and the power of their work.”