Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing
Nick Reiner has spoken openly in the past about his dark times struggling with addiction and homelessness, something which has taken on increased relevance after his arrest.
Nick Reiner was arrested yesterday in connection to the murder of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner, with police saying that he is ‘responsible’ for their deaths.
The news shocked the film world, with tributes pouring in from Stephen King, Barack Obama, and many of the stars of his previous films.
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This includes Nick Robinson, the Love, Simon star who appeared in Being Charlie, directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nick, which chronicles the latter's struggles with addiction in a semi-autobiographical way.
While discussing this film, Nick opened up about his past, including his 18 trips to rehab.
Nick Reiner on how his struggles left him close to death
The 32-year-old spoke about how his struggles with homelessness and drug addiction left him close to death.
Speaking to PEOPLE Magazine, he said: “I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas.
“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… When I was out there, I could’ve died. It’s all luck. You roll the dice and you hope you make it.”
In another previous interview with Access Hollywood promoting the film, Nick Reiner was asked whether he believes people who said he would ‘die if he continues on this way’ regarding his drug abuse.
He replied: “Of course there’s that level of feeling that way, but you know, the rate I was going was probably not great.” When asked if he ever felt he ‘got close’, he agreed.
Nick Reiner's violent outbursts and relapse
Appearing on the Dopey podcast in 2018, Nick spoke about an incident in which he was ‘spun out on uppers’ and had destroyed his parents’ guest house.
He said he had been sequestered in the guest house for ‘days on end’ and the outburst came after he was asked to leave.
At the time of the podcast, Nick stated that he wasn’t currently sober, but he had not gone back to taking heroin.
He did state however that a year and a half prior, which would have been a year or so after the release of Being Charlie, he had relapsed and was ‘back on the dope’ and had a medical emergency after taking cocaine.
He admitted: “Long story short, I wound up having a cocaine heart attack.”
Nick Reiner's fight with Rob at Conan O'Brien's holiday party
Friends of the family also told the Los Angeles Times that, on Saturday evening, Rob and Nick Reiner had been seeing having an argument.
They said this took place at Conan O’Brien’s holiday party and that many noticed Nick ‘acting strangely’. Rob and his wife Michele were found dead the next day at 3.30pm. Multiple sources have claimed that one of their children called the police after finding the couple’s bodies.
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Topics: Celebrity, Crime, Mental Health, TV and Film, US News, Celebrity News
Michael Slavin