Billy Crystal doesn’t trust God after Pacific Palisades fire and Rob Reiner’s death

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Following the 2025 loss of his home in the Pacific Palisades wildfires and the killing of his longtime collaborator, Rob Reiner, the 78-year-old actor has a newfound skepticism, he told “CBS Sunday Morning” correspondent Tracy Smith in an interview that aired last weekend.

Smith asked Crystal if he had been talking to God over these last couple of years, given that he recounted his conversations with God in his 2004 Tony Award-winning play “700 Sundays” and he is now promoting his one-man Broadway show, “860,” which premieres Oct. 21 at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.

“No, ‘cause I don’t trust him,” Crystal responded. “Too many bad things have happened. The Earth is in bad shape. This is a weird, scary time, so no. Not anymore.”

× This drastic change of faith comes after Crystal and his wife Janice Crystal (née Goldfinger) lost their 1930s ranch house in the Palisades wildfire in January 2025. The couple, who have been married since 1970, purchased the stucco home in 1979 to raise their daughters Jenny, now 53, and Lindsay, 48.

Not much remained after the blazing devastation, save for some rocks with uplifting engraved words like “welcome,” “patience” and “dream” that the family laid around the garden decades prior, he shared with People in a cover story published online Wednesday.

“Lindsay found the ‘laughter’ rock,” Crystal said. “So the fact that that was the first thing [we found], we’ll be OK.”

The Tony Award-winning 2004 stage show is captured for HBO ‘to document for my kids and my grandkids’ his early family history.

The Palisades fire inspired “860,” which is titled after his home address and touches on themes of luck and fate.

“I started thinking about this in a way that I think was separating me from the pain of what was happening,” Crystal told the outlet. “It was healing me at the same time.”

He underscores that the story is not about the fire itself, rather a journey that highlights resilience, laughter and love and “facing things you never thought were possible,” he shared.

The New York born-and-bred comedian first opened up about personal pain in “700 Sundays,” his autobiographical one-man play that touched on the death of his father, who died of a heart attack when Crystal was 15. The production won the Tony Award for special theatrical event.

Voices Appreciation: Rob Reiner’s humanity was a signature of his TV work, in front of and behind the camera Rob Reiner’s career began on television, and after leaving “All in the Family” he continued to perform, transforming tonally into a sort of gentle Jewish Buddha onscreen.

Reiner and Crystal met in 1976 on the set of the CBS sitcom “All in the Family” and became fast friends. Encouragement from his longtime confidante and collaborator helped the comedian write about the loss of his beloved home before Reiner’s tragic killing in December 2025 alongside his wife, Michele, in Brentwood.

The “Monsters, Inc.” voice actor called their chemistry “undefinable.”

“I knew it from the first time we met. I knew it from that first week: ‘This is going to be a forever thing, I just know it,’” Crystal told People. “We laughed. We talked about all kinds of things. We were always interested in what each other was doing and grateful that we both were getting chances to do something even as we went our separate ways in projects.”

A group of Rob Reiner’s closest friends released a statement remembering him as a ‘passionate, brave citizen’ who worked to make the world a better place.

The actor also shared that he was not the first choice when it came to the role of Harry in “When Harry Met Sally…,” but after considering other actors — among them Albert Brooks, Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton — Reiner approached Crystal as if it were a scene from the 1989 romantic comedy itself.

“One day the call came, and he was almost upset by saying, ‘I always knew it was you,’” Crystal said.

In preparing for the premiere of “860,” which runs until Jan. 3, Crystal recalled a brief moment where he forgot Reiner was gone.

“I ran upstairs to the dressing room, and my first thought was: ‘I got to call Rob and tell him,’” Crystal said. “I don’t know if I don’t want that to keep happening or I do want it to keep happening.”

With homes still charred lots, Palisades fire survivors find solace in temple reopening May 20, 2026 Show Comments Entertainment & ArtsBreaking News Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.

Andrea Flores is a reporter with De Los covering the many contours of Latinidad for the Los Angeles Times. She has both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University and is originally from Waukegan, Ill.

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