Esteemed actor, director, and marriage equality activist Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife, producer Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead in their Los Angeles home Sunday afternoon, numerous media outlets report. Police are calling their deaths a homicide, and their son Nick Reiner has been arrested on suspicion of murder, according to the Los Angeles Times. They had suffered stab wounds, local TV station KTLA reports.

“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time,” a family spokesperson said.

Nick Reiner is being held on $4 million bail, according to jail records viewed by the Times. Family friends told the paper that Rob and Nick Reiner had an argument during a party at Conan O’Brien’s home Saturday night and that Nick was acting strangely. Nick had been addicted to hard drugs and spent time in rehab centers as a teenager but had gotten clean 10 years ago, the Times reports. He and his father worked on a film about addiction and recovery, Being Charlie, released in 2015.

Rob Reiner first became famous as Michael “Meathead” Stivic, the liberal son-in-law of bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) on the groundbreaking situation comedy All in the Family. The show, which ran from 1971 to 1979, dealt with many social and political issues and featured gay and transgender characters. Reiner won Emmys as Best Supporting Actor in a comedy in 1974 and 1978.

He went on to direct numerous popular movies, including This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President, LBJ, and The Story of Us. A sequel to This Is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about a heavy metal band, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, came out this year. Another sequel, Spinal Tap at Stonehenge: The Final Finale, has been completed and is slated for release in 2026, according to IMDB.

Reiner’s greatest contribution to the LGBTQ+ community was as cofounder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which funded the legal fight against Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that revoked marriage equality in the state. In 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality, but Prop. 8, approved by voters that November, amended the state constitution and therefore nullified that ruling.

Two same-sex couples, Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, sued over Prop. 8 after they were denied marriage licenses. The American Foundation for Equal Rights hired famed lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies — the two attorneys who argued opposing sides of Bush v. Gore in 2000 — to argue the case against Prop. 8.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in 2010 that Prop. 8 violated the U.S. Constitution. California state officials in two consecutive administrations declined to defend Prop. 8, so a conservative group called ProtectMarriage.com took up the defense. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld Walker’s ruling in 2012, and the following year, the U.S. Supreme Court let that decision stand, ruling that ProtectMarriage.com lacked legal standing to argue the case.

In 2011, Reiner likened the Prop. 8 case to the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education, which determined that separate is not equal.

“We don’t believe in separate but equal in any other legal position except this,” Reiner said of marriage equality in an appearance on Morning Joe. “We feel that this is the last piece of the civil rights puzzle being put into place.”

He performed as right-wing activist David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, in a staged reading of Dustin Lance Black’s play 8, about the fight against the proposition.

Reiner announced plans in 2011 to make a film about marriage equality, but the project was never realized.

He continued to be an ally, however. At the Human Rights Campaign’s Los Angeles dinner in 2019, he spoke out for LGBTQ+ equality, saying, “We have to move past singling out transgender, LGBTQ, black, white, Jewish, Muslim, Latino. We have to get way past that and start accepting the idea that we’re all human beings. We’re all human beings, we all share the same planet, and we should all have the same rights, period. It’s no more complicated than that.”

Reiner was the son of Carl Reiner, a legendary writer, director, and performer (Your Show of Shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid), and Estelle Reiner, who delivered the line “I’ll have what she’s having” after Meg Ryan showed how to fake an orgasm in When Harry Met Sally…. Estelle Reiner died in 2008 and Carl Reiner in 2020.

Rob Reiner’s first wife was actress Penny Marshall, who, like him, became an in-demand director with films such as A League of Their Own. He was the adoptive father of Marshall’s daughter, Tracy Reiner, who appeared in A League of Their Own and several other films. Rob Reiner and Marshall were married from 1971 to 1981.

He married Michele Singer in 1989; she was a photographer he had met on the set of When Harry Met Sally…. She was a producer on several of her husband’s films, including Spinal Tap II and the documentaries Shock and Awe, about the Iraq War, and Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, a profile of the comedian. Separately, she produced a documentary about Christian nationalism, God & Country.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass released this statement: “This is a devastating loss for our city and our country. Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice. An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.

“Personally, I am heartbroken by the tragic loss of Rob and his wife Michele. I knew Rob and have tremendous respect for him. Among his numerous contributions, Rob helped create First 5 California, a landmark initiative funded by a tobacco tax to support early childhood development programs. He and Michele fought for early childhood development and marriage equality, working to overturn Proposition 8. They were true champions for LGBTQ+ rights.

“I want to thank all of the first responders who were called to this tragic event. The investigation is ongoing. I’m holding all who loved Rob and Michele in my heart.”

HRC President Kelley Robinson issued a statement as well: “The entire HRC family is devastated by the loss of Rob and Michele Reiner. Rob is nothing short of a legend — his television shows and films are a part of our American history and will continue to bring joy to millions of people across the world. Yet for all his accomplishments in Hollywood, Rob and Michele will most be remembered for their gigantic hearts, and their fierce support for the causes they believed in — including LGBTQ+ equality. So many in our movement remember how Rob and Michele organized their peers, brought strategists and lawyers together, and helped power landmark Supreme Court decisions that made marriage equality the law of the land — and they remained committed to the cause until their final days. The world is a darker place this morning without Rob and Michele — may they rest in power.”

I don’t have much to add about Rob Reiner and wife Michelle Singer’s shocking death that other people haven’t said better, likewise any more to add about his career and political activism. It’s clear he was a good man and a very good filmmaker. What I will say is that very few people, much less filmmakers, had the sort of career run that he had as a director between 1984 and 1992: This is Spinal Tap. The Sure Thing. Stand by Me. The Princess Bride. When Harry Met Sally. Misery. A Few Good Men.

I mean, come on. With the exception of The Sure Thing, every single one of those is a stone classic, and The Sure Thing is still pretty good! It made a star out of John Cusack! There are things we still say because Rob Reiner directed the film those words were in: “This one goes to 11.” “As you wish.” “You can’t handle the truth,” and so on. You could go a whole day talking to people by only quoting Rob Reiner films and you could absolutely get away with it. No disrespect to Stephen King, Aaron Sorkin, William Goldman, Nora Ephron, etc who wrote the words, obviously. It’s Reiner who gave those words the platform to become immortal.

It’s odd and in retrospect a little enraging that in that entire run of films, Reiner was nominated for an Oscar only once, as a producer on A Few Good Men, and not ever since then. One sole Oscar nomination, not only for his own work, but for the work his production company had a hand in. Of course others were nominated because they were in or worked on his films and Kathy Bates even won, for Misery. But for Reiner himself, that one single nomination. It’s a reminder that what wins awards, and what stays in people’s hearts and minds, are sometimes very different things when it comes to movies.

If you want to know who Rob Reiner was as a filmmaker, here he is:

The beloved man who comes to you at a low point, spins you a tale, and then, when it’s done and you say to him that you would be happy to hear another story sometime, says “as you wish.” Rob Reiner’s work was and is beloved and it will last because of it.

He did good. He’s going to be missed. He is missed. This hurts.

— JS

Is it paranoia if they really are listening?

Merriam-Webster has settled on a word that represents 2025 - and that word is "slop." The dictionary-maker defines "slop" as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence," something that many people have become familiar with as AI-generated content permeates the internet.

This year, some of the most popular sites on the web took steps to stave off the infestation of AI slop, including YouTube, Wikipedia, Spotify, and Pinterest. But others are embracing it, as both Meta and OpenAI made apps dedicated to streams of AI-generated videos that you can scroll through and share. Even Disne …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Civicus monitors the health of civic societies and their freedoms around the world. In their annual assessment on civic freedoms for 2025, they downgraded the United States from “narrowed” to “obstructed”.

The CIVICUS Monitor has downgraded the United States of America’s civic space rating, reflecting a sharp deterioration of fundamental freedoms in the country. The People Power Under Attack report now rates the USA as “Obstructed” following a year of sweeping executive actions, restrictive laws, and aggressive crackdowns on free speech and dissent.

The downgrade comes following Donald Trump’s return to office in January 2025, which triggered a wave of measures undermining democratic institutions and civic freedoms. The report flags a drastic surge in violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

“The backsliding on rule of law and fundamental freedoms in the United States is truly alarming,” said Mandeep Tiwana, secretary general of CIVICUS. “We are witnessing a rapid and systematic attempt to stifle civic freedoms that Americans have come to take for granted, such as critiquing authorities and protesting peacefully.”

From an article in the Guardian on the report:

The report cited militarized crackdowns on protests in the US, pointing to Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard to Los Angeles and other cities, as well as the widespread use of ICE agents across gatherings and immigrant communities.

It further highlighted escalating restrictions on free speech across college campuses, particularly around Palestinian solidarity activism.

“Universities have suspended student groups and opened investigations under broad and vague accusations of ‘material support for terrorism.’ Foreign-born students and faculty have been disproportionately targeted, facing disciplinary actions, visa threats, and professional retaliation for supporting Palestinian rights,” the report stated.

Civicus moreover warned that media freedoms were under mounting pressure nationwide, citing the Federal Communications Commission’s threats to revoke broadcast licenses and Trump’s lawsuits against various media companies.

It also pointed to Trump’s revocation of funding for public broadcasters including NPR and PBS, as well as the new White House Wire, an administration-run news website that promotes positive news about itself.

Tags: politics · USA