Comedian Billy Crystal revealed that his faith in God has suffered in the wake of the Pacific Palisades fire, which burned his neighborhood to the ground, and the murder of his beloved longtime friends, filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele.
Billy Crystal lost his home during the Palisades Fire in January 2025 and then later lost his friend, Rob Reiner, just 12 months later in December 2025 in horrific murder, allegedly at the hands of his son, Nick Reiner.
Speaking with CBS Sunday Mornings, Crystal revealed that the back-to-back trauma has his shaken his faith – a reversal from from his 2004 Tony-winning one man-show 700 Sundays detailing his conversations with God.
“No, ‘cause I — I don’t trust him,” Crystal told correspondent Tracy Smith when asked if he still talks to God.
When Smith asked if he were serious, Crystal bluntly said, “Yeah. Too many bad things have happened. The Earth is in bad shape, this is a weird, scary time. So no, not anymore.”
As noted by TheWrap, the segment aired on “Sunday to promote his return to Broadway, but just like the show, it largely focused on how he has coped in the aftermath of such major losses.”
Crystal said he often uses humor to push through the “darkest of times.”
“That’s what I do. You have to, man. You’ve gotta. It’s a healer. It always has been that way. You know, we say when life gets tough, all you can do is laugh,” he added.
Crystal said that his new show, 860, has helped him heal with the Palisades Fire and the murders Rob and Michele Reiner, which he said is still “too big” and “insane” to process.
“I’ve been doing it. If I didn’t get to perform it, even, I’m OK. I’ve absorbed the biggest pains that people can go through, the loss of home, dearest of friends, and I’m OK,” he continued.
“I’m 78 now, and I feel really good, and I’m optimistic for what life is going to bring,” he later added. “If we’ve gotten through this in the way that we’ve gotten through it, we’re doing OK.”