Corey Feldman is addressing his noticeable absence from this year’s emotional on-stage Oscars tribute to the late director Rob Reiner.
“Personally, it felt a little bit like a family reunion I wasn’t invited to, but we’re not going to use this time to get into my feelings about that,” Feldman, 54, told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on Friday, March 27.
“Instead, I just want to say that I’m, with the rest of us, we’re all very destroyed that things went down the way they did, losing Rob when we all thought he’d be joining us at some point for this tour,” he continued, referring to the theatrical re-release of Reiner’s 1986 film Stand By Me.
The film, starring a young Feldman alongside Jerry O’Connell and Wil Wheaton, is returning to theaters in honor of the movie’s 40th anniversary.
“We all would’ve loved to be able to say goodbye in our own ways,” Feldman continued. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The best way we can say goodbye is honoring him and his work and his film through these tours that we’re doing and these interviews and getting people to take the moment and time to acknowledge the history of his work and art that he created. And hopefully going out there to celebrate him one last time on a big screen where it deserves to be seen.”
Rob and his wife, Michelle Reiner, were found dead in their California home in December 2025. The late director was 78, while she was 70. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later determined Rob and Michele’s cause of death to be “multiple sharp force injuries” from apparent stab wounds.
The couple’s son Nick Reiner, 32, was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances in connection to his parents’ untimely deaths. In February, Nick pleaded not guilty to the charges. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty should he be convicted. Nick remains behind bars without bail. His next court date is scheduled for April 29 at the time of publication.
In March, Rob and his wife were honored onstage during Hollywood’s biggest night by some of the stars of the filmmaker’s most prolific movies. Billy Crystal led the way, recalling how he met Rob in 1975 while playing best friends on an episode of All in the Family.
“It went so well Rob said, ‘It was fun playing your best friend, why don’t we keep it going?’” the actor said while on the 2026 Oscars stage. “It was a thrill to see him evolve from a great comic actor to a skilled storyteller.”
Crystal then highlighted some of the late director’s most memorable films, including Misery, When Harry Met Sally and Stand by Me. The actor was then joined by the stars of Reiner’s many films, including Meg Ryan, Kathy Bates, O’Connell and Wheaton.
“I think Jerry and Wil did what had to be done,” Feldman said of the onstage moment featuring his former costars. “It was a fleeting moment, so I don’t feel like I missed much at all. I personally was probably maybe a little bothered by the fact that nobody got to speak or say anything from their own heart. Although they did a wonderful job, I would’ve liked to have heard from Wil and Jerry and a few other people up there.”
