Michael Douglas, 82, has opened up about the private bond he shared with Rob Reiner over their sons’ struggles with drug addiction.
Douglas details the friendship in his memoir “One Helluva Ride,” which is set for release Tuesday. The “Wall Street” star writes that he and Reiner, the director of “The American President,” confided in each other during their most difficult moments as fathers.
“We both had sons with serious drug issues and we both, at times, had been at the end of our rope,” Douglas writes in the book, according to an excerpt published Monday by the Los Angeles Times.
The conversations between the two Hollywood veterans were painful but meaningful. Douglas describes them as a shared release valve during periods of family crisis.
“It was a heartbreaking confessional for us,” he wrote, adding that he knew they “gave each other some measure of comfort during the hard times.”
Douglas’s son, Cameron Douglas, 47, battled addiction and served seven years in federal prison on drug-related charges. Reiner’s son, Nick Reiner, faced his own documented struggles with substance abuse.
The two stars had crossed paths professionally when Reiner directed Douglas in the 1994 romantic comedy “The American President.” Their professional relationship deepened into a personal friendship anchored by parallel family crises.
Douglas had previously spoken about these discussions during a CBS News special following Reiner’s death.
Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele were found dead inside their Brentwood home on Dec. 14. Los Angeles police determined the couple had been victims of homicide.
Their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested later that day. Prosecutors allege he fatally stabbed his parents before fleeing the home. He was later indicted on two counts of murder with special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait.
The memoir spans nearly 500 pages and covers Douglas’s Hollywood career, family life and personal experiences. Among the revelations is Douglas’s admission that he had a secret relationship with his “Romancing the Stone” co-star Kathleen Turner while filming the 1984 movie. The two had previously denied the relationship, which remained secret for decades.
The timing of Douglas’s candor about his friendship with Reiner underscores the sudden shift in how their private conversations would be understood. What began as mutual support between two fathers became, after the murders, a final record of Reiner’s concerns about his own family.
Douglas’s account does not address whether he and Reiner discussed Nick Reiner specifically in their confessional talks. The memoir excerpt focuses on the parallel nature of their situations rather than specific details about either son.
The Reiner murders drew national attention both for the prominence of the victims and the alleged involvement of their son. Nick Reiner had co-directed the 2015 film “Being Charlie,” a semi-autobiographical drama about a young man struggling with drug addiction, with his father producing.
Rob Reiner had publicly defended his son against “nepo baby” criticism in a video that circulated widely after the murders. In the clip, Reiner pushed back against suggestions that Nick’s career opportunities were unearned.
The memoir’s release marks Douglas’s most extensive public reflection on a friendship that carried weight he had not previously disclosed in detail.
“One Helluva Ride” hits shelves Tuesday.