Just under two weeks after the 2026 Academy Awards, Corey Feldman has more to say about being left out of the big night’s tribute to Rob Reiner.
“I think Jerry [O’Connell] and Wil [Wheaton] did what had to be done. It was a fleeting moment, so I don’t feel like I missed much at all,” Feldman told Entertainment Weekly. “I personally was probably maybe a little bothered by the fact that nobody got to speak or do or say anything from their own heart.”
He added: “Although they did a wonderful job, I would’ve liked to have heard from Wil and Jerry and a few other people up there.”
Feldman spoke to the outlet alongside “Stand By Me” co-stars O’Connell and Wheaton for a 40-year retrospective on Reiner’s classic coming-of-age film. While Feldman did not get the invite to attend the Oscars for a moment of recognition for Reiner, O’Connell and Wheaton both did.
“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 go into my feeling about that,” Feldman said. “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 and it’s a tragedy.”
The moment at the Academy Awards came as part of an extra-long In Memoriam segment, influenced by a notable string of high-profile Hollywood losses between the 2025 and 2026 ceremonies. Frequent Oscars host Billy Crystal opened the segment by talking about his friends Rob and Michele Reiner, who died on Dec. 14 in a double homicide from “multiple sharp force injuries,” according to the L.A. Medical Examiner.
Their 32-year-old son Nick — who has battled mental health and addiction issues in the past — was later arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in February.
Feldman told EW that he appreciated how the Academy decided to “honor the great memory of Rob,” but that the In Memoriam segment “is what it is.”
The actor previously took to social media more than a week before the ceremony to say he hadn’t been invited, believing he was blocked from participating due to speaking out about abuse he faced in Hollywood as a child.
“Yes, it’s true that I was not invited,” Feldman wrote at the time. “I understand many believe it’s due to being outspoken about the abuse I suffered as a child and the campaign to silence me. However, this isn’t about me. It’s not my moment at all. It’s about the tragic loss of our friend Rob Reiner and his memory.”
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