Liza Minelli doubles down after being branded as tone deaf for using Rob Reiners death to promote book

Liza Minnelli has insisted that she did not exploit the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner to promote her upcoming memoir after facing immense backlash for her ‘tone deaf’ post.

Last week, the Hollywood star, 79, reminded her followers that her new autobiography – which will explore mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) and her own battles – will hit stands in March 2026.

Minnelli discussed the book as she asked whether the Reiners’s tragic murders could have been prevented.

Both Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, were found dead at their home on December 14. Their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested that evening on suspicion of their murder.

In the wake of the shocking news, Minnelli posted a lengthy message on Instagram in which she shared her devastation over their deaths and also discussed her upcoming tome, Kids Wait ‘Till You Hear This.

She was fiercely slammed afterwards, as some social media users accused her of being ‘tone deaf’ and ‘self promoting’ for linking their passings to her book.

In a new upload posted to her Instagram account on December 23, Minelli doubled down on her message about the Reiners and added that the ‘crisis of SUD’ was ‘clearly involved’ in their deaths.

Addressing the backlash directly, she added: ‘To those who felt the timing was off or the message tone-deaf, I disagree.

Liza Minnelli has insisted she did not ‘exploit’ Rob and Michelle Reiner’s murders to promote her upcoming biography. She’s seen in October 2024

The Reiners (pictured here in September) were found dead on December 14

‘I’ve never been exploitative of any situation or anyone. Not my style. What is my style? Telling the truth, even when it makes people uncomfortable.

‘Because here it is: SUD, mental health, and trauma, on every scale, are usually interwoven. That’s not drama. That’s not clickbait.’

Minnelli’s statement came after she ignited a huge online backlash on December 20 for bringing up the Reiners’ deaths while promoting her upcoming book.

‘Like everyone I know, our hearts are shattered over the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner,’ she wrote in her initial post.

‘When violence and SUD collide, the devastation reaches far beyond one moment, one person, one family.

‘SUD is not a moral failure; it’s a dangerous illness. We are all grieving. We are all feeling this great loss.

‘The gut-wrenching question is: Could this tragedy have been prevented? Could these precious, sweet, genius lives been saved? I fear we will never have absolute answers.’

Minnelli then said that silence only ‘weakens the soul and deepens the harm’ and that she stayed quiet about her own struggle with SUD because she believed ‘shame was safer.’

Their son Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders

Minnelli revealed her new memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, will be released in March 2026

In her initial post, the actress asked whether the Reiners’ deaths could have been prevented before promoting her upcoming tome

After facing immense backlash, Minnelli followed up in a second post where she disagreed that her timing was ‘off’

She added: ‘That’s why I wrote Kids Wait Till You Hear This, which will be published in March 2026, to tell the truth, to share chaos, destruction and death can happen to anyone, everyone, and to remind us that recovery is possible.’

Minnelli’s upload sparked uproar with many fans accusing the Hollywood star of ‘using’ the Reiners’ death to plug the project.

On Reddit, one said: ‘The book promo wedged in there is certainly a choice.’

Another wrote: ‘Too soon, Liza. Too soon.’

‘Using someone else’s death and tragedy to plug a book is certainly a move,’ added a third. ‘What happened to shame.’

A fourth penned: ‘I get that she likely knows that she’s talking about, but maybe don’t plug your upcoming book and ask “could this tragedy have been prevented?” when their blood isn’t washed off the floor yet. C’mon.’

Minnelli, the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, originally announced her book, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, last year.

‘Despite every challenge, Liza’s is a life wrapped in laughter and her tremendous capacity to give and receive love,’ the synopsis reads.

‘Today at nearly 80, she opens her heart, mind and memories, sharing secrets we never knew.’