Whether sitting across the table or across the aisle, Rob Reiner left no doubt about what he valued and was willing to fight for.
I once had lunch with him at Pete’s Cafe in downtown Los Angeles, where he was more interested in what was in his head than what was on his plate. He advocated for local investment in early childhood development programs using funding from , which he spearheaded in 1998.
Political activity among celebrities is nothing new, but I remember thinking that Reiner was far beyond the simple task of making an endorsement or hosting a fundraiser. He understood public policy failures and deep inequalities and wanted to talk about the moral obligation to address them and the economic benefits that could result from doing so.
“He was very passionate,” said Ben Austin, who was present at the lunch and worked as Reiner’s aide at the time. “He wasn’t just a Hollywood star, he was a very sophisticated political actor.”
Mr. Reiner, who was visiting for the weekend with his wife, Michele, is also a co-founder of the Equal Rights Foundation of America, which was instrumental in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in California in 2008.
Austin said Michelle Singer Reiner was her husband’s “intellectual partner” as an activist, but he was the one we usually saw. But Michelle made her voice heard, as she did when she emailed me about the unforgivable crisis of veterans living on the streets, including at the then West LA Veterans Administration campus, which was filled with vacant buildings.
I check on my progress and contact her, and when little changes, she checks again. At one point I told her that I had been informed that the new shelter beds would be full by the end of the year.
“And if you believe that, I have a bridge for you,” she wrote back.
In choosing his cause, Austin said of actor, director and producer Rob Reiner, “I didn’t jump on a train that was already moving.” Austin said universal early childhood education was hardly a fringe issue at the time, but Reiner was more interested in social change than political advocacy.
However, Reiner’s aggressive instincts sometimes led to backlash. It wasn’t just from President Trump, who hit a new personal low Monday by claiming on social media that Reiner’s death was the result of his disdain for Trump.
He was sworn in as chairman of the California First 5 Commission, an outgrowth of Proposition 10, after a Times report raised questions about the use of tax dollars to promote. The ballot measure, backed by Reiner, would tax the wealthy to pay for preschool for 4-year-olds.
In 2014, Reiner was a central figure in a bid to limit commercial development and chain stores in Malibu, and I co-moderated a boxing match-like debate between him and developer Steve Soboroff.
As explained:
“On Sunday night, Rob Reiner and Steve Soboroff entered the Major R debate with guns blazing. This debate is sure to be one of the most memorable and entertaining Malibu showdowns in recent Malibu history.”
Reiner took an early jab, accusing Soboroff of making a backroom deal to add immunity to the measure. That’s a lie, Soboroff fired back, claiming he was insulted with a low blow. Reiner, who owned homes in both Brentwood and Malibu, didn’t really care whether his low-growth views resembled NIMBY-ism.
“I think there are a lot of NIMBY-isms,” Reiner said. “That’s right. This is 100% NIMBY-ism. Everyone who lives here is worried about their way of life.”
But so was Reiner. He unapologetically reveals his position, such as his role as “Meathead” on Norman Lear’s hit TV show “All in the Family,” opposite the bigoted Archie Bunker.
Returning to President Trump, he also speaks openly about his position.
But in my experience, most people work with filters. You can self-censor when you need to. It is not a skill, but an innate common sense and human consideration that exists in the hearts and souls of ordinary people.
I didn’t know much about Nick Reiner’s history of addiction issues or temporary homelessness. However, soon after the body was discovered, it became clear that Reiners’ 32-year-old son may have been involved, and that he was, in fact, involved.
What I do know is that in a situation where there is such unspeakable horror and the survivors of the family having to sort through all the madness, the president’s better response would have been silence.
It’s nothing but a grave dance.
The Reiners’ deaths were “reportedly due to the anger they provoked in others due to severe, indomitable, and incurable suffering from a mind-numbing illness known as Trump Derangement Syndrome…” Trump said. President Trump continued, “The deaths occurred because the Trump Administration exceeded all goals and expectations for greatness…”
Austin said this was “a more convincing response than Robb about why Trump doesn’t need to be president of the United States.”
