Conan O'Brien is still finding it hard to accept that Rob and Michele Reiner are gone, admitting their deaths continue to hit him when he least expects it. The comedian paid tribute to his close friends at the Children's Institute's annual Cape & Gown Gala in Beverly Hills on Sunday, November 8.
The event brought together more than 600 guests and raised a record $4 million in support of the organisation. "I think multiple times a week, it will hit me that they're not here.
It leaves you feeling very hollow." He also urged guests to keep supporting the causes that mattered to the couple, whose work focused on helping children and families. "They started something, and we keep them with us.
We keep them close if we join in and do the work because that's what they were all about," he said. O'Brien had seen the Reiners just hours before their deaths, when they attended his holiday party on December 13, 2025.
Their bodies were found at their Los Angeles home the following day. Their son Nick was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
At the gala, the couple's children, Jake and Romy, presented Jamie Lee Curtis with the inaugural Michele & Rob Reiner Champion for Change Award, recognizing their parents' decades of advocacy.