Harry and Meghan See Their California Dreams, and Riches, Fade Away

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Like so many others before them, Prince Harry and Meghan arrived in Hollywood with big plans. They are leaving with their star power fading.

This screenshot has been taken from this NYT article. | The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are returning to Britain after spending six years in California chasing their Hollywood dreams. Credit: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
It began with such high hopes.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex landed in Hollywood in 2020, flush with a multimillion-dollar Netflix deal and a promise that the duo, scorned by the royal family, would make a slew of inspirational programming.

Two years later, “Harry & Meghan” the Netflix six-part docuseries on the couple’s departure from Britain, generated 23.4 million views in its initial release, immediately topping the company’s charts as the most watched ever for the first four days of a documentary. In total, the program has garnered 70 million views since its debut.

Nothing else Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, ever made for the service — whether it was “Live to Lead,” a seven-episode interview show with world leaders, or “Polo,” a docuseries about the sport — reached such heights.

In 2025, the Netflix deal was not renewed. A similarly lofty agreement at Spotify also fell short of expectations. » | Nicole Sperling and Shawn Hubler | Reporting from Los Angeles | Saturday, August 22, 2026

Smoking Is Cool Again? We Asked Gen Z New Yorkers and Their Take Is Shocking

August 9, 2026 | Smoking rates have been dropping for decades thanks to well-documented health and lung cancer risks. But now an apparent rise in cigarette smoking among young people seems to be signaling a cultural shift. From Hollywood to helicopter parents, here's a look inside the forces making smoking "cool" again for Gen Z.

Steve Rosenberg: The Language of War: How Moscow Describes Its War on Ukraine

August 6, 2026 | In today’s Reading Russia: a look at the language Moscow uses to describe the war on Ukraine. Plus, more on the consequences of Ukrainian drone attacks. And a Hollywood blockbuster (unofficially) hits Russian cinema screens.

Meghan Markle: The Duchess Who Divided the World | Full Documentary

July 8, 2026 | She was the Hollywood starlet who promised a modern dawn for the House of Windsor, but the dream quickly dissolved into a storm of headlines and high-stakes departures. Meghan Markle’s journey from the altar of St George’s Chapel to the hills of Montecito has been a masterclass in global division—leaving a trail of broken traditions and unanswered questions in its wake. This moment would define a generation’s view of the Crown, but at what cost to the woman behind the brand?

This documentary unravels the complex tapestry of Meghan’s royal life, charting her meteoric rise and the sharp, public fractures that followed. By examining the shifting tides of public opinion and the relentless friction between American celebrity and British duty, we witness the story of a Duchess who refused to be silenced, even as the gates of the palace closed behind her. It is a narrative of ambition, exile, and the high price of individual truth.


This documentary is live, so I am posting it sight unseen. I therefore have no idea of its angle or content. Please be aware of that. — Mark

Der reichste und größte Nazi-Filmstar lachte über Hitler und verkaufte ihre Moral - Zarah Leander

May 26, 2024 | Noch bevor der Zweite Weltkrieg Europa verschlang, trat eine schwedische Sängerin mit einer tiefen, unverwechselbaren Stimme ins Rampenlicht des national-sozialistischen Kinos — und wurde zu einem der umstrittensten Stars des Dritten Reiches. Zarah Leander, geboren 1907 als Sara Stina Hedberg, entsprach nie dem arischen Idealbild, das die NS-Propaganda so sehr verherrlichte. Doch sie besaß etwas weitaus Wertvolleres: Charisma, Glamour und eine Stimme, die Millionen Menschen in ihren Bann zog. Auf-gewachsen in einer kultivierten schwedischen Familie und seit ihrer Kindheit fließend Deutsch sprechend, entwickelte sich ihre frühe Karriere langsam über Bühnenauftritte, Operetten und skandinavische Filme. Der Durchbruch gelang ihr mit der Operette Die lustige Witwe, und ihr europaweiter Erfolg erregte bald die Aufmerksamkeit der UFA, des staatlich kontrollierten Filmstudios des NS-Staates. 1936 unterzeichnete sie einen lukrativen Vertrag und wurde zum neuen Kinoidol des Regimes — und füllte damit die Lücke, die Marlene Dietrich nach ihrer Flucht nach Hollywood hinterlassen hatte. Auf der Leinwand verkörperte Leander starke, leidenschaftliche Frauenfiguren. Abseits der Kamera erwies sie sich als kluge Verhandlerin, verlangte hohe Gagen, die teilweise in Schweden ausgezahlt wurden, und bestand darauf, ihre Rollen selbst auszuwählen. Joseph Goebbels bezeichnete sie als „schwierig“ — doch ihre Filme zogen Millionen Zuschauer an, und ihre Lieder wurden zu Durchhalte-Hymnen der Kriegsjahre. Ihr größter Erfolg, Die große Liebe (1942), wurde der erfolgreichste Film des nationalsozialistischen Deutschlands, dessen Einnahmen direkt in die Kriegswirtschaft flossen.

Doch Leander war keine überzeugte Nationalsozialistin. Sie mied Parteiveranstaltungen, verspottete ranghohe Funktionäre und nahm sogar ein jiddisches Lied auf, das in Deutschland überraschend populär wurde. 1943, als sie den Zusammenbruch des Regimes kommen sah, löste sie ihre Verträge mit der UFA und floh zurück nach Schweden. Nach dem Krieg setzte sie ihre Karriere fort, erreichte jedoch nie wieder den Ruhm der Vorkriegszeit. Vorwürfe der Kollaboration begleiteten sie jahrzehntelang, auch wenn sie stets darauf beharrte, lediglich Künstlerin und keine Propagandistin gewesen zu sein. Zarah Leander starb 1981 und hinterließ ein Vermächtnis von großer Ambivalenz — eine Legende, geprägt von Ehrgeiz, Anpassung und Überleben, und eine Stimme, die für immer mit dem Deutschland Hitlers verbunden bleibt.

Smoking Is Cool Again – and Hollywood’s to Blame

This screenshot is from this Telegraph article. | Smoking is now the preserve of the hippest stars, including The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White Credit: PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
THE TELEGRAPH: From Oscar victors One Battle After Another and Sinners to Disney’s hit Kennedy drama Love Story, cigarettes are creeping back on to screens

Oscar Wilde wrote in The Picture of Dorian Gray that “A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?” For many years, cinema took the Wildean image of the cigarette as the Platonic idea of sophistication and developed it even further.

Who can forget Sean Connery’s introduction as 007 in Dr No, lighting a Craven A cigarette as he says the words “Bond… James Bond” for the first time on screen, or Humphrey Bogart disconsolately but stylishly smoking in Casablanca as he mourns his lost love, Ilsa, saying: “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”

Smoking on screen historically denoted sexiness, class and cool. This was the case when Sharon Stone lit up a cigarette in an interrogation room in Basic Instinct and sneered at the detectives interrogating her: “What are you going to do? Charge me with smoking?”

It was hard, coming of age in the Nineties, not to be impressed by it all, even as we were surrounded by health warnings; by the time I was at university, practically everyone I knew smoked. The only reason I refrained was because I was frankly rubbish at it. » | Alexander Larman | Wednesday, April 15, 2026

”Hollywood’s to blame”. One could turn that around and say ‘thanks to Hollywood’! 😊 Even though I am no longer a smoker, I am sick to death of all the bloody do-gooders around in the West these days. Quite frankly, they are so tiresome!

Do-gooders’ intentions are, I dare say,… ‘good’, but they are frightfully boring and such people are certainly not fun to be around. Also, it must be said that whatever their intentions, people have never been so unhealthy as they are today. When I look back, so many people smoked, yet most people remained relatively slim throughout their lives, and type-2 diabetes was relatively uncommon. These days, this is not the case. Since people stopped smoking en masse, they have satisfied their cravings by eating and drinking instead. People eat like there’s no tomorrow, and they often drink like fish! So, these days, people suffer from obesity, obesity-related diseases, and fatty liver disease instead of smoking-related diseases.

Even though I am no longer a smoker, I smoked most of my adult life — a pack a day. These days, young people want six packs. My generation wanted twenty-packs! 😊

Anyway, all jokes aside, whichever way we lead our lives, we will eventually suffer from something in the fulness of time; it’s almost inevitable. And as my American, long-term, deceased, and sorely-missed partner always used to say: You can’t get out of this life alive! Never were truer words spoken! (He, by the way, was not a smoker. He had stopped smoking aeons before I ever met him.)

I have heard it said that some people associate smoking with poverty, ill health, and an early death. Such negativity! Such pessimism! I don’t. I associate smoking with elegance, class, and style. There's something very alluring about a well-dressed gentleman smoking a cigarette. It looks so sexy, too. After all, isn't that why so many Hollywood movies showed so many actors and actresses smoking? — © Mark Alexander

15 Heartthrob Leading Men Who Secretly Lived Together

Mar 4, 2026 | During the Golden Age of Hollywood, a leading man’s image was everything. The studio system manufactured the perfect, rugged, and completely available "bachelor" persona to sell millions of movie tickets to swooning fans. But behind the iron-clad contracts, the glamorous red carpets, and the watchful eyes of the studio fixers, many of the era's biggest heartthrobs were quietly sharing their domestic lives with other men.

In this video, we pull back the curtain to reveal the 15 Heartthrob Leading Men Who Secretly Lived Together. We explore the fascinating, hidden history of classic Hollywood to uncover the famous actors who shared homes, built secret lives away from the cameras, and navigated a deeply restrictive era.

From iconic duos who famously shared a Malibu beach house known to insiders as "Bachelor Hall," to the intense PR spin used by studio executives to disguise these living arrangements as "just two single guys saving money," this is the untold story of Hollywood's hidden domestic lives.

Liebe im Schatten des Krieges – Remarque & Dietrich | Doku HD Reupload | ARTE

Apr 18, 2026 | In seinem Welterfolg "Arc de Triomphe" verarbeitete der Schriftsteller Erich Maria Remarque seine eigenen Exilerfahrungen und die folgenreiche Begegnung mit Marlene Dietrich. Die Dokumentation rekonstruiert die bewegende Entstehungsgeschichte dieses stark autobiografischen Romans, der heute als ein Schlüsselwerk der europäischen Exilliteratur gilt.

Was bedeuten Flucht und Vertreibung für die Betroffenen? Das beschreibt der Bestsellerautor Erich Maria Remarque in seinem zweiten großen Welterfolg ʺArc de Triompheʺ. Der Roman erzählt die Liebesgeschichte eines verfolgten deutschen Emigranten, der unmittelbar vor Ausbruch des Zweiten Weltkriegs in Paris eine geheimnisvolle Frau trifft. Eine Amour fou, wie Remarque sie selbst mit der Hollywood-Diva Marlene Dietrich erlebt hat – und zwar zu einer Zeit, in der ein Leben im faschistischen Deutschland für beide Weltstars ausgeschlossen war.

Die Dokumentation rekonstruiert die Parallelen zwischen dieser realen Liebesgeschichte und der fiktiven im Roman. In ʺArc de Triompheʺ verarbeitet Remarque nicht nur den Schmerz seines eigenen Heimatverlusts, sondern auch seine über zehn Jahre währende, aufreibende Beziehung zu Marlene Dietrich. Entlang der Lebensstationen des Paares und auf der Grundlage von biografischen und historischen Dokumenten sowie Filmausschnitten – 1947 wurde ʺArc de Triompheʺ in Hollywood mit Starbesetzung verfilmt – begibt sich der Film auf eine mitreißende Zeitreise.

Von Paris und Antibes nach Los Angeles und New York rekonstruiert er die Entstehungsgeschichte dieses stark autobiografischen Romans, der heute als Schlüsselwerk der europäischen Exilliteratur gilt – als literarisches Vermächtnis einer langjährigen Leidenschaft zweier Weltstars.

Dokumentation von Hedwig Schmutte und Rolf Lambert (Deutschland 2025, 53 Min)
Video auf YouTube verfügbar bis zum 30/06/2026

En photos, Grace Kelly et Rainier III de Monaco : leur mariage du siècle il y a 70 ans

Image tirée du numéro actuel de Madame Figaro. | Le mariage de Grace Kelly et Rainier III. (Monaco, le 19 avril 1956.) - Gilbert TOURTE / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
MADAME FIGARO : Le 19 avril 1956, le prince Rainier III épousait l’actrice américaine Grace Kelly lors d’une somptueuse cérémonie à la cathédrale de Monaco. Soixante-dix ans plus tard, ce « mariage du siècle » fascine toujours autant.

Elle est arrivée dans la matinée à la cathédrale Notre-Dame-Immaculée de Monaco sans doute aussi stressée qu’excitée à l’idée de lier son destin à celui de son bien-aimé, le prince Rainier III. Ce 19 avril 1956, Grace Kelly sait que tous les regards seront tournés vers elle, la star hollywoodienne sur le point de devenir princesse de Monaco, une histoire digne d’un conte de fées mais pourtant bien réelle.

L’actrice de 27 ans monte les marches de l’édifice au bras de son père, John B. Kelly, qui l’accompagne jusqu’à l’autel où l’attend son futur époux. Le prince Rainier III la découvre alors dans sa somptueuse robe ivoire avec un corsage en dentelle, des manches longues et un buste entièrement brodé de perles. Les traits angéliques de Grace Kelly, son regard bleu azur se dévoilent en transparence derrière son voile long et léger, soigneusement accroché à sa coiffe ornée de perles, de dentelle et de fleurs d’oranger. Au moment de l’échange des vœux, son visage est dégagé, son émotion palpable. Plus de 600 personnes, dont le réalisateur Alfred Hitchcock et François Mitterrand, alors garde des Sceaux, ont fait le déplacement pour assister à ce mariage, un événement historique. » | Par Solene Delinger | dimanche 19 avril 2026

Le mariage de Grace Kelly et Rainier III de Monaco en dix images vintage »

À LIRE AUSSI :

Le trésor caché de Monaco : comment Grace Kelly a créé sa propre collection de bijoux princiers : Le mariage de Grace Kelly au prince Rainier III en 1956 a permis à l’actrice star de Hollywood d’acquérir certaines des plus belles pièces qui composent aujourd’hui la collection de bijoux monégasques. »

Interview: My Mother, Audrey Hepburn: the Star’s Son Sean on Her Movies, Marriages, Good Works and Fascist Parents

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961, directed by Blake Edwards. Photograph: Paramount/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock
THE GUARDIAN: The heroine of Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s knew war and poverty, riches and fame, love and betrayal – yet claimed to have lived a ‘terribly boring’ life. Sean Hepburn Ferrer paints a very different picture in his new biography

Growing up, Sean Hepburn Ferrer says he never felt like the son of a movie star – but he very much is. His mother was Audrey Hepburn, one of the biggest names in the golden age of Hollywood, an Oscar-winner, a screen star and a fashion icon. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world recognise her from classics such as Roman Holiday, Funny Face and My Fair Lady – besotted with the way she laughs, dances, or poses tastefully in Givenchy couture.

Audrey’s image is so ubiquitous in posters, art prints, magazines, on handbags, keyrings or T-shirts, that the family has made hunting for her likeness into a game. “I must have made this crack to my kids,” Sean says. “We were probably waiting for a train or a plane that had been delayed: ‘Three minutes to find Grandma.’ And it became a thing. Now the kids are grown-up, but they do it on their own. I do it by myself and send a snapshot to my wife and we giggle privately.”

In a new book, Intimate Audrey, Sean writes his own story of https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/apr/06/audrey-hepburn-sean-hepburn-ferrer-biographyhis mother’s life. It is, he tells me over coffee at a Tuscan vineyard near his hillside home, a “behind the scenes” take on the life of one of the 20th century’s most famous women. Fewer ballgowns, more family dinners.

Sean, 65, had what he calls a “normal childhood” in Switzerland and Rome, very far from Hollywood. “She had normal priorities,” says Sean about his mother. “She realised that life is short and fickle and delicate – and you can’t want a family and then when it comes not put your elbow into it.” Even if that elbow is best known encased in a Givenchy evening glove and cradling a bag of doughnuts outside Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue at dawn. » | Pamela Hutchinson | Monday, April 6, 2026

‘A Very Dangerous Person’: Alarm as Pete Hegseth Revels in Carnage of Iran War

Screenshot taken from this Guadian article. | Pete Hegseth at a Pentagon briefing earlier this week. | Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
THE GUARDIAN: Critics say brash, bombastic Fox News host out of his depth to guide US military through murky new Middle East conflict

Brash and bellicose, he sounded more like a cartoon bully than a sombre statesman. “Death and destruction from the sky all day long,” Pete Hegseth, wearing a red, white and and blue tie and pocket square, bragged to reporters at the Pentagon near Washington. “This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.”

Hegseth, 45, a former Fox News TV host who now commands the world’s most powerful military, has this week become the face of Donald Trump’s war in Iran. That has set off for alarm bells for critics who warn that the Secretary of Defense – pointedly rebranded “Secretary of War” – has rapidly transformed the Pentagon into the staging ground for an ideological and religious crusade.

With machismo, Christian nationalism and callousness toward the lives of US troops, they say, Hegseth’s puerile displays on TV are aimed at sating Trump’s desire for a warmonger worthy of the manosphere. This was reinforced by a lurid social media video that intersperses clips from Hollywood blockbusters such as Braveheart, Gladiator, Superman and Top Gun with Hegseth and real kill-shot footage of the attacks in Iran. » | David Smith in Washington | Sunday, March 8, 2026

How Iran War Has Fundamentally Changed the World

Mar 6, 2026 | It’s seven days since America and Israel launched a war against Iran - the Middle East is on fire, the Qataris are warning of a global economic disaster and Donald Trump’s White House is pumping out propaganda clips of their airstrikes spliced with Hollywood memes. So what kind of world do we now live in? And what could come next?

On the latest episode of The Fourcast Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by General Sir Richard Shirreff, NATO’s former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Chimène Keitner, who was a legal advisor in Obama and Trump’s administrations, and former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz, who worked in the National Security Council in Trump’s first administration and is now vice-chairman of the America First Policy Institute.

Grace Kelly: From Hollywood Star to Princess of Monaco I SLICE History | Full Documentary

Feb 9, 2026 | Considered one of the most beautiful actresses of her time, Grace Kelly remains an icon today. Her life and career are well documented, from her work in Hollywood to her marriage to Prince Rainier and her tragic death in a car accident in 1982.

But do we know the inside story? Who really was Grace Kelly?

Thanks to an exclusive agreement with the Principality of Monaco, this documentary will tell Grace’s life story as it’s never been told before, through the eyes of those close to her and who loved her, including her family – notably Prince Albert of Monaco –, and friends.

For the first time, the Grimaldi family has given access to its private archives, much of which has never been made public before, and agreed to talk us through this intimate material. This comprises many films shot in 8mm, 16mm and super-8 by Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier themselves, which reveal a mother who is quite different to the official image: Free, vibrant, surrounded by her children and participating in family life.

A look back on an icon with a tragic destiny.

Documentary: Her name was Grace Kelly
Directed by Serge de Sampigny
Production: Patrick Spica Productions (2020)

US Students, Businesses, and Hollywood Lead 'National Shutdown' Strike against ICE and CBP | DW News

Jan 31, 2026 | US businesses and schools went on strike on Friday to protest federal immigration tactics. The strikes are meant to force a 'national shutdown' to put pressure on the Trump administration to pull immigration enforcement ages from US cities.

Scenes from Different from the Others / Anders als die Andern (1919)

1 Jun 2019 | Excerpts from Different From the Others (Anders als die Andern) (Germany, 1919), which was preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive as part of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project. Funding provided by The Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation and the members of Outfest.

Synopsis

The concert violinist Paul Koerner takes a student under his wing, much to the worry of the boy’s parents. Koerner is meanwhile being blackmailed by a former lover, since in Germany any homosexual relations at that time were punishable under the law, codified in Article 175, which was not removed from the books until the 1960s. The German film, Different From the Others is, as far as we know, the first fiction feature film to address a specifically gay audience. Fortunately, even though more than 90% of all German silent films have disappeared, this film exists today in at least half its original length. When the film was first shown in 1919, gay and lesbian audiences must have been amazed that a mainstream fiction feature film would portray their situation as a fact of nature, rather than a perversion. Today, this film celebrates the brief opening of that door, before it slammed shut for another 50 years.

The film was produced and directed by Richard Oswald, at that time one of Germany’s most prolific independents, who made films cheaply and premiered them in a Berlin cinema he owned, where his wife would often handle the office box. Oswald had earned a fortune in 1917/18 with a number of “educational” feature films about sexually transmitted diseases, which were approved by the censorship authorities, simply because syphilis was rampant in the trenches. Oswald would continue to produce controversial films, like his acknowledged masterpiece, The Captain from Koepenick (1931) based on Carl Zuckmayer’s anti-authoritarian play. The Nazis never forgave Oswald for Anders als die Andern or Koepenick, forcing Oswald into exile and eventually to Hollywood, where he directed several films and television shows. Although long underappreciated in Germany, recent critical reappraisals have valued his in-your-face aesthetic and modern subject matter.

Only a severely truncated version of the film has survived, with Ukrainian titles, as Gosfilmofond in Russia. It was restored previously to a semblance of the original 1919 release by the Munich Film Museum. The UCLA restoration is based on that Munich reconstruction, with some changes and additions made.

Credits

Richard-Oswald-Produktion. Screenwriters: Magnus Hirschfeld and Richard Oswald. Cinematographer: Max Fassbender. With: Conrad Veidt, Leo Connard, Ilse von Tasso-Lind, Alexandra Willegh, Ernst Pittschau, Fritz Schulz.



WIKIPEDIA: Magnus Hirschfeld »

George Clooney Fires Back at Trump after US President Mocks His French Citizenship

THE GUARDIAN: Trump called the actor and his wife, Amal, ‘two of the worst political prognosticators of all time’ after they were awarded French passports

George Clooney has lashed out at US president Donald Trump for criticising France’s decision to grant the Hollywood actor and his family French citizenship.

The 64-year-old Oscar winner, his wife, Amal Alamuddin Clooney, and their two children became French citizens earlier this month after living on a property in southern France for years.

Clooney has hailed French privacy laws that have kept his family largely protected from international media intrusion, as well as the opportunity to raise his children outside Hollywood.

Trump, whose administration has backed anti-immigration parties in Europe, wrote on Truth Social that France was welcome to the Ocean’s Eleven star, who is a long-term Democrat supporter, fundraiser and a vocal critic of the president.

“Good News! George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France which is, sadly, in the midst of a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration,” Trump wrote.

“Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies,” the president added. “He wasn’t a movie star at all, he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics.” » | Sian Cain and agencies | Friday, January 2, 2026

'What a Cliffhanger!' | Simon Marks' American Week

Dec 20, 2025 | In this edition of American Week, Simon Marks reflects on the legacy of Hollywood director Rob Reiner and breaks down Donald Trump's 'jaw-dropping' response to the Oscar nominee's death.

Simon also reacts to Melania Trump's self-produced $40 million Amazon documentary and delves into the latest development in the President vs the BBC saga.


Donald Trump is a most despicable man. By re-electing such an awful man to the presidency, Americans have shown the world that they were not worthy of democracy. So now, they have lost it! The man they re-elected has turned their country into an autocracy. It's not quite as bad as Russia yet, but it's getting there fast. — © Mark Alexander

Nick Reiner Formally Charged With Murdering His Parents

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Prosecutors said that Mr. Reiner killed his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner, using a knife. He has not yet entered a plea.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles on Tuesday formally charged Nick Reiner with murdering his parents, the Hollywood fixtures and Democratic Party heavyweights Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

The son faces two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors requesting they be considered under “special circumstances,” in part because there were multiple murders. Special circumstances can add time to a sentence if convicted.

Nick Reiner, if convicted, could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, although prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the death penalty. (Gov. Gavin Newsom has put a moratorium on executions, but the death penalty still exists in California.) Mr. Reiner has not yet entered a plea. » | Matt Stevens and Jill Cowan | Reporting from Los Angeles | Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Trump Blames Rob Reiner's Murder on 'Trump Derangement Syndrome'

Dec 16, 2025 | President Trump said Rob Reiner was killed because of the film director's "raging obsession" with him.

Ben Kentish spoke to Trump's former Republican opponent, Joe Walsh, who said this was proof that the US President is a 'psychopath'.

Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, 68, allegedly were killed following a heated argument with a family member. The pair were found dead on Sunday, sources close to the couple have told US media.

Mr Trump responded to the alleged murder with a post to Truth Social: "A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS."

Rob Reiner and Wife Found Stabbed to Death: What We Know

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The director’s family said that he and his wife, Michele, died on Sunday, and county jail records show that their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested.

Rob Reiner, the award-winning Hollywood actor and director, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death in their home in Los Angeles on Sunday, according to the police and others briefed on the case.

Their son Nick Reiner, 32, was arrested on Sunday night and booked into jail in Los Angeles County, county jail records show. He is being held on $4 million bail, according to the records. The Los Angeles police chief, Jim McDonnell, said on Monday that he was “booked for murder.” » | Jin Yu Young | Monday, December 15, 2025

Leer en español.

Trump Seizes on Rob Reiner’s Death to Attack the Hollywood Director: The president attributed the killing of Rob Reiner and his wife to “Trump derangement syndrome.” There was no indication that the couple’s political beliefs were linked to their deaths. »

Rob Reiner, Actor Who Went on to Direct Classic Films, Dies at 78: Mr. Reiner, who was in “All in the Family,” directed films including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally …,” “The Princess Bride” and “A Few Good Men.” »

Michele Singer Reiner: A Photographer Who Changed Movie History: Falling in love with her inspired the director Rob Reiner to give “When Harry Met Sally…” a new ending. The Reiners went on to work together on movies and political causes. »