Rob Reiner’s son, Jake Reiner, vowed to always “connect” with his late father through baseball as he made a return to his podcast.
Rob Reiner’s son will always “connect” with his late father through baseball.
The When Harry Met Sally filmmaker and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their home in December and though 35-year-old Jake Reiner – whose younger brother, Nick Reiner, is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to his parents’ murders – is still mourning the loss of his mom and dad, he has returned to work on The Incline: Dodgers Podcast because he felt it was “time”.
During his first episode back on the podcast, which Jake has co-hosted with Kevin Klein since April 2019, he said: “When it comes to the Dodgers, you know, my first love, is something that I’ve always connected with my dad first and foremost, and it’s something that I will continue to connect with him for the rest of my life.”
Jake noted it felt like a “good time to come back” to the podcast, on which he talks about his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers, he also wanted to discuss the family tragedy.
He said: “I didn’t wanna just jump on the podcast and start talking about the Dodgers’ offensive woes or bullpen woes without, you know, addressing some things first.”
Jake went on to thank everyone “near and far” for “all the love” and support “since everything’s happened.”
He added: “I couldn’t appreciate that more.
“I felt it was time to come back to the podcast. I was thinking about it for a really long time and [have] been talking to Kevin about it for a while now.”
And Jake didn’t want to go back to the podcast until he had shared some personal reflections about his parents, which he did in an essay published on Substack last month.
He explained: “I felt like I wanted to put my words out there and let people in as to the kind of people that they were at home.
“And for those that really knew and loved them, I felt it important to share that. “
Jake felt it important to connect with people about grief, “even though everyone’s grief is unique to them”, and invited listeners to read his essay or visit his Instagram account so that he could then focus on talking about baseball on the podcast.
He added: “I’m really honoured to be back. It’s been a long time coming.”
In his essay, Jake admitted the tragedy had been “almost too impossible to process” for himself and sister Romy, 28.
He wrote: “We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable.
“Sure, any loss of a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the centre of it. It’s almost too impossible to process.”
Jake said the months since the killings have been marked by ongoing grief and disbelief.
He added: “Every day since then has been horrendous.
“Every meeting we take, every person we talk to, every tear we shed, every movement we make is connected to our parents being murdered.”
Jake described the continuing impact on himself and Romy, writing the reality of the loss remains constant.
He said: “Because they weren’t your parents, it might be easier to move forward or even forget for a moment about what happened that day.
“But for us, it’s every single day.”
Jake Reiner will keep ‘connecting’ to late dad Rob Reiner through baseball
