The tragic and turbulent history of Nick Reiner, son of famed filmmaker Rob Reiner, has come to light following his arrest for the alleged murder of his parents. Friends and family insiders have shared insights into his troubled past.

Nick, aged 32, has been charged with the brutal murder of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele, after they were discovered with fatal injuries in their luxurious $13.5 million Los Angeles home on Sunday.

The fraught relationship between Nick and his parents was well-known in Hollywood circles. Rob Reiner had even collaborated with his son on a film that delved into their familial issues, largely stemming from Nick’s battles with drug addiction.

Nick’s behavioral challenges reportedly began in his youth. A family friend penned a children’s book titled “Little Nicky,” drawing inspiration from Nick’s disruptive behavior during his childhood.

Described as an “intense kid” who had explosive tantrums, Nick prompted his family to seek therapy. Alanna Zabel, the author of the children’s book, recounted to the Daily Mail how Nick’s unruly behavior inspired her story about a child dealing with behavioral issues.

Zabel taught yoga to the family for almost 10 years, including private classes with Nick.

So when she heard on Sunday evening that the ‘When Harry Met Sally’ director, 78, and his wife Michele, 68, were found dead with stab wounds in their Brentwood, LA home, her thoughts immediately went to the troubled child she knew.

From an angsty child, he became a young adult with severe drug problems. He had been to rehab 18 times as of 2016, first going around his 15th birthday, and lived on the streets after refusing to go back.

Rob Reiner with his wife Michele and children Jake, Romy and Nick, in 2005

Reiner’s son Nick has previously spoken about his struggles with drug addiction and bouts of homelessness. He first went to rehab around his 15th birthday; pictured together in 2016 in NYC

The 2015 drama Being Charlie, directed by his father, focused on addiction and the pain it causes families, and was co-written by Nick with a friend from rehab.

He had clashes with his family throughout the years, as documented in the film, which portrays a young man who resents the way his father and mother are dealing his addiction.

They force him to spend time in rehab, with their interactions a reflection of how Rob, Michele and Nick were with each other, the family said at the time.

Evidencing the years of clashes the parents had with their son, it ends with an apology from the dad for the occasionally unsympathetic way he treated his son.

Reiner said in an interview afterwards that he owed and gave this apology to his son in real life.

But Nick’s unpredictability and even aggression towards his family seemingly continued.

In an episode of the Dopey podcast in 2018, he described the time he destroyed his parents’ guesthouse while ‘spun out’ on meth after being told to leave. 

During the August 18, 2018 podcast, host David Mannheim asked Nick, ‘What about when you wrecked the guesthouse on meth?’ ‘I got totally spun out on uppers. I think it was coke and something else,’ Nick replied.

‘I was up for days on end. I started punching out different things in my guest house. I started with the TV and then went over to the lamp.

‘Everything in the guesthouse got wrecked. When asked if punching the furniture was a way to relieve tension, Nick replied, ‘No, you’re crazy. No logic.’ 

Nick co-wrote the semi-autobiographical film Being Charlie (2016), which his dad directed. Nick (R) is pictured with Michel and Rob in 2013 in LA

Mannheim, a longtime recovering addict, told Nick he was concerned about him and urged him to give recovery another chance.

Desperate to help him overcome his behavioral problems as a child, Nick’s parents turned to yoga instructor Zabel, who detailed how he had an aggressive streak even from a very young age.

‘Nicky would barge in like the world was on fire, screaming, into our yoga sessions. It was disruptive,’ she said, recalling his behavior aged around 10 in the 2000s.

‘He was really screaming. I have never seen a child like it,’ Zabel, who met the Reiners in 2001, told the Daily Mail.

‘For about a year I did private classes just with Nicky, really trying to regulate him and calm him down.’

‘His emotions were not being met on some level. He really needed attention, and needed it immediately when he needed it.

‘He was just an intense kid.’

Celebrity yoga teacher Zabel said her experience with a young Nick inspired her to write a book published in 2015 about a child called ‘Nicky’ with behavioral problems, who finds peace through yoga after running away from home.

‘Little Nicky was picky. He often threw a fit. He didn’t relax easy, and he never wanted to sit,’ the first line of the illustrated kids’ book says.

She didn’t know at the time that Nick would end up going into rehab around his 15th birthday over substance abuse, the first of 17 inpatient stints over the next four years.

He told People Magazine in 2016 that he ended up homeless in three states because he repeatedly refused treatment, but had since been on the mend.

‘I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,’ he said. ‘I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.

‘If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they were suggesting, then I had to be homeless.

‘I’ve been home for a really long time, and I’ve sort of gotten acclimated back to being in LA and being around my family. But there was a lot of dark years there.’

Zabel said the Reiners had hired a family therapist to help tackle the problems they faced with Nick.

Firefighters reportedly called police to the scene just minutes after they arrived; police are seen outside the home on Sunday night

‘The fact that they were seeing a family therapist shows how much they cared. They were trying to figure it out,’ said Zabel, who has a degree in child development.

‘Rob and Michele loved the book, they brought it to their therapist, because they were considering publishing it with me.

‘The therapist just didn’t want Nicky to know that there was a book written about him having this tantrum, and add more energy to his behavioral issues. So I just did it on my own, and they were fine with that.’

Zabel described the Reiner parents as ‘passionate’, ‘hands-on parents’ and ‘loving’.

‘I love Rob and Michele, so much. They were just so passionate. Both of them were very intensely passionate about their family, life, justice and creativity,’ she said.

‘Michele was a New Yorker living in California. She was really mindful trying to raise her kids out of the pressures of Los Angeles and Hollywood. It was challenging and full time.

Renier and his wife met on the set of 1989’s When Harry Met Sally and wed that year. They had three children: (L–R) Jake, Romy and Nick; the family is pictured in 2014 in NYC

‘Just knowing how many times I’ve been in that house, and knowing these people, and just imagining that your destiny is that. This is unbelievable.’

She pointed out that the Jewish family were likely preparing for a family get-together to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah on Sunday, before they were allegedly killed.

‘Probably they were planning Hanukkah dinner and something happened,’ she said.

The yoga teacher, who has had several top celebrity clients, added that the discord she witnessed between Nick and his family was a product of their fame.

‘I think it’s really challenging for children of Hollywood stars to have a clear sense of reality. It’s really not easy. But it’s not an excuse,’ she said.

‘The sense of neglect can breed its own delusion in kids.

‘I’m really just gutted with sadness hearing their story tonight.

‘They were passionate and wanted the best for everyone, so kind and generous, but also very, very intense people.’