MAGA Hollywood actor James Woods slams Trump for Rob Reiner slurs as he chokes up on air
By Natasha Anderson
Daily Mail
Dec 16, 2025
James Woods slammed Donald Trump over his 'distasteful' comments about Rob Reiner during his Monday night appearance on Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime
James Woods has slammed Donald Trump over his 'distasteful' comments about Rob Reiner despite being one of Hollywood's most outspoken supporters of the President.
The 78-year-old praised Reiner - a staunch liberal - for saving his career and being a 'Godsend in my life' during his Monday night appearance on Fox News's Jesse Watters Primetime.
The actor also hit out at Reiner's critics, claiming that although their politics did not align, the murdered filmmaker does not deserve to be spoken poorly of.
'I judge people by how they treat me, and Rob Reiner was a Godsend in my life. We got along great, we loved each other… He was always on my side,' Woods said.
'When people would say to me, "What do you think of his politics?" I would say, "I think Rob Reiner is a great patriot." Do I agree on many of his ideas on how that patriotism should be enacted, to celebrate the America that we both love? No.
'He doesn't agree with me either, but he also respects my patriotism. We had a different path to the same destination, which was a country we both love.'
Woods further argued that saying 'horrible things' about Reiner is 'infuriating and distasteful,' adding: 'Because you disagree with people doesn't mean that you have to hate people.'
The remark was an apparent jab at Trump, who in a Truth Social post Monday described Reiner as suffering from a 'mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome.' He also described him as being 'very bad for our country.'
Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Sunday. Their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held without bail.
Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, 70 (pictured together in 2023), were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Sunday
Woods became overwhelmed with emotion and teared up as he spoke about Reiner's death with Watters.
'I judge people by how they treat me, and Rob Reiner was a Godsend in my life. We got along great, we loved each other,' the actor said. 'He was always on my side.'
Woods shared how Reiner casting him in the 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi saved his career, which at that point was on a downfall.
'Rob literally saved my career and really put me back on track,' he said, noting how the role took him from being 'basically out of a job' to 'getting an Academy Award nomination.'
Reiner 'really fought for me when the studio didn't want me in a movie,' Woods explained and said the director was 'somebody I love, respect, and cherish.'
The actor also noted how Reiner, unlike many other Democrats, refrained from criticizing Charlie Kirk after he was assassinated.
'I knew Charlie Kirk, I supported him… people said some such horrible things, and Rob did not,' Woods said.
He doubled down that although he did not agree with Reiner's politics, he loved him as a 'friend, as an artist, as an icon of Hollywood, and as a patriot.'
'I am just absolutely devastated,' he shared.
The President appeared to blame Reiner and Michele's killings on the liberal director's 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' in a Monday post on Truth Social
An aerial view shows the couple's home in Brentwood, LA, where they were found dead
Los Angeles police are set to present a case to prosecutors today following Nick Reiner's arrest in the killings of his parents.
Prosecutors will decide whether and how to charge the 32-year-old, who is being held in jail without bail.
He was arrested several hours after his parents were found dead in their home in LA's upscale Brentwood neighborhood on Sunday, police said.
Investigators believe the couple died from stab wounds, although they have not offered any potential motive for the killings.
Trump appeared to blame Reiner and Michele's killings on the liberal director's 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' in a Monday post on Truth Social.
Hollywood celebrities and Republicans pushed back on his statement, with some calling it 'disgusting and vile.'
But the President seemed undeterred in his criticism of the late director.
When pressed by a reporter in the Oval Office about his previous statement, he said: 'Well, I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person. As far as Trump was concerned.
From left, Reiner, Michele, their daughter Romy, son Nick, Maria Gilfillan, and Jake Reiner arrive at the premiere of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues in September - their last family picture
The 78-year-old director famously supported liberal causes and Democratic candidates (pictured with Hillary Clinton in 2008)
'I think he hurt himself, career-wise, he became like a deranged person, [with] Trump derangement syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.'
Trump also accused Reiner of pushing the 'Russia hoax', the allegation that the President was compromised by the Kremlin during his first term.
He wrote that Reiner, a 'once very talented movie director and comedy star,' passed away, 'reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease' he calls TDS - or Trump Derangement Syndrome.
The term is used by conservatives to describe disdain for the Republican President.
Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom All in the Family who went on to direct films including When Harry Met Sally... and The Princess Bride. He was an outspoken liberal activist for decades.
Michele was a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. They had been married for 36 years.
Three months ago, Nick was photographed with his parents and siblings at the premiere of his father's film Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues.
Trump (pictured in the Oval Office on Monday) doubled down on his criticisms of Reiner, adding: 'I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person'
He had spoken publicly of his struggles with addiction, cycling in and out of treatment facilities with bouts of homelessness in between through his teen years.
The father and son explored - and seemed to improve - their relationship through the making of the 2016 film, Being Charlie.
Nick co-wrote and Reiner directed the film about the struggles of an addicted son and a famous father. It was not autobiographical but included several elements of their lives.
'It forced us to understand ourselves better than we had,' Reiner told the AP in 2016. 'I told Nick while we were making it, I said, "You know it doesn't matter, whatever happens to this thing, we won already".'
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