Billy Crystal, a close confidant of Rob Reiner, has finally spoken out to honor the esteemed director and his wife, Michele, following their tragic deaths.

The star of “When Harry Met Sally” was spotted with his spouse, Janice, outside the Reiner family’s Los Angeles residence on Sunday. They had been summoned by the couple’s daughter, Romy, who had discovered her parents’ lifeless bodies.

At 77, Crystal was visibly emotional, wiping away tears as he departed the scene, while authorities swarmed the premises.

The Reiners were discovered stabbed to death in their bedroom, and their youngest son, Nick Reiner, aged 32, now faces charges of two counts of first-degree murder.

Crystal, alongside other iconic figures in comedy, issued a heartfelt statement through the Associated Press on Tuesday evening.

The friends and colleagues who included Albert Brooks, Larry David, Martin Short and director Barry Levinson, among others, praised Reiner, 78, as ‘a great comic actor’ and a master story teller’. 

‘There is no other director who has his range.’

The statement paid homage to Reiner’s incredible film career as well as to his ‘special’ 36-year marriage to ‘perfect partner’ Janice with whom he had three children.

‘Going to the movies in a dark theater filled with strangers having a common experience, laughing, crying, screaming in fear, or watching an intense drama unfold is still an unforgettable thrill,’ the statement began.

‘Tell us a story audiences demand of us. Absorbing all he had learned from his father Carl and his mentor Norman Lear, Rob Reiner not only was a great comic actor, he became a master story teller. There is no other director who has his range.

‘From comedy to drama to ‘mockumentary’ to documentary he was always at the top of his game. He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films,’ the statement continued.

‘His comedic touch was beyond compare, his love of getting the music of the dialogue just right, and his sharpening of the edge of a drama was simply elegant. For the actors, he loved them. For the writers he made them better. His greatest gift was freedom. If you had an idea, he listened, he brought you into the process. They always felt they were working as a team.

‘To be in his hands as a film maker was a privilege but that is only part of his legacy.’

The friends went on to describe the late director as ‘a passionate, brave citizen, who not only cared for this country he loved, he did everything he could to make it better and with his loving wife Michele, he had the perfect partner.

‘Strong and determined, Michele and Rob Reiner devoted a great deal of their lives for the betterment of our fellow citizens… They were a special force together-dynamic, unselfish and inspiring. We were their friends, and we will miss them forever. 

The heartfelt statement ended with a poignant quote from one of Reiner’s favorite films. 

‘There is a line from one of Rob’s favorite films, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. 

“Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” You have no idea.’

Reiner’s close friend Larry David, star of Curb Your Enthusiasm and writer of Seinfeld, was also spotted close to the property and was said to have been very emotional.

Crystal, 77, and the 78-year-old were reacting to the news that the bodies of a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman were confirmed by police sources to be Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner.

Police are investigating the deaths as a double homicide. The couple’s bodies were discovered with what appeared to be knife wounds, according to law enforcement sources who spoke to TMZ. It has since been reported that their throats had been slit.

The couple’s son, screenwriter Nick Reiner has been arrested in connection with the deaths. 

He was formally charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder. If convicted, Nick could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

Reiner’s family released a statement on Sunday night which read: ‘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.’

Meanwhile, a neighbor source told ABC7 in Los Angeles that David and Crystal visited the crime scene separately, and Crystal is said to have left in tears.

Property records indicate that Reiner and his wife were the owners of the home, according to NBCLA. 

Reiner and Crystal had a decades-long friendship as they first met on the set of classic sitcom All In The Family in 1975 when the two were cast as best friends. 

Crystal had written a column for The Hollywood Reporter back in September 2016 about their friendship as he said that their chemistry on screen was so palpable that they decided to be friends away from the camera.

Crystal wrote: ‘It worked really well, and we said, ‘It feels right onstage, why don’t we just continue this in our lives?’ 

‘We became the closest of friends. And when I moved out here, we just spent all kinds of time together.’

Of course, Reiner most famously directed him in the aforementioned 1989 classic film When Harry Met Sally, alongside Meg Ryan.

Nora Ephron penned the memorable movie, which centered on two unlikely college acquaintances who move to Manhattan and embark on an on/off friendship spanning 11 years. 

Crystal previously said that one of his favorite moments in their friendship was at the first screening of When Harry Met Sally.

He wrote in the THR column: ‘Rob and I were sitting in the back next to each other. Then the orgasm scene happens, and the place goes berserk. When Rob’s mother, Estelle, says, ‘I’ll have what she’s having,’ it was thunderous, a laugh you can only hear with the best of jokes in a concert hall. 

‘It’s those moments that make movies so spectacular: You set up the joke in September, and you don’t hear the punch line until May. We just grabbed each other’s hands because we knew something exciting was about to happen with this movie.’

Reiner famously worked with David on his iconic sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm as he played himself in one of the best-known episodes, titled The Thong, which was broadcast in October 2001. 

The two are both legends in the comedy world, with Reiner having directed some of the most iconic films of the genre and David being a comedic force behind Seinfeld and his aforementioned HBO series. 

In September, Reiner released Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, the sequel to his iconic 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which he co-wrote, directed and appeared in. 

Reiner followed his father, the comic actor and filmmaker Carl Reiner, into Hollywood. Reiner died in 2020 at 98. 

Reiner first emerged as an actor and is best known for his role as Michael ‘Meathead’ Stivic on the previously mentioned All In The Family.

He won two Emmy Awards and was nominated for five Golden Globes during his stint on the series from 1971 to 1978. 

Reiner helped reinvent his career in the 1980s with his forward-looking comedy This Is Spinal Tap, which would go on to inspire countless mockumentaries. 

He became one of Hollywood’s most in-demand directors for the next two decades due to classics and box office hits such as Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), Misery (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), The American President (1995) and The Bucket List (2007). 

Despite focusing his efforts on directing, Reiner continued to act in his later years, including a role as the father of Leonardo DiCaprio’s lead character in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013), as well as later roles in his own film And So It Goes (2014), the Adam Sandler–starring comedy Sandy Wexler (2017) and, most recently, his Spinal Tap sequel. 

Reiner’s 1989 film When Harry Met Sally is widely considered one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made.

It was on the set of that film that Reiner met his future wife, the photographer Michele Singer. The two were married in 1989 and went on to welcome three children: Jake, Nick and Romy.

Reiner was previously married to the late actress and filmmaker Penny Marshall, and he adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner. Marshall died in 2018 at 75. 

Nick has previously spoken about his struggles with drug addiction and bouts of homelessness. 

In 2016, Rob directed the film Being Charlie, a semi-autobiographical drama written by Nick that he said was inspired by his numerous rehab visits, the first of which was around when he turned 15. 

‘I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,’ Nick recalled while speaking about the film in a 2016 interview with People. ‘I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.’

Nick, who said he had gone to rehab 17 more times as of 2016, also claimed to have lived on the streets after he refused to go back to a rehab program.

The screenwriter, who was 22 at the time, said in 2016 that his last rehab stint had been three years earlier.

He said at the time of Being Charlie’s release that he hoped to stay off drugs so that he would never be homeless again.

‘When I was out there, I could’ve died. It’s all luck. You roll the dice and you hope you make it,’ he told People.