AceShowbiz - Conan O’Brien has expressed a desire to keep the focus on the tragic loss of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, rather than on himself. The couple’s deaths occurred shortly after they attended a party hosted by O’Brien and his wife.

In an interview ahead of the upcoming Oscars, where O’Brien is the host, he deflected questions about how he and his wife have coped with being connected to the tragedy. Instead, he emphasized the overwhelming sadness surrounding the loss of the Reiners.

“Very simply, we had a party, we invited our really good friends, and then, the next day, this terrible thing happened,” O’Brien said. He acknowledged that while having a public name can sometimes cause one’s identity to be drawn into events, the difficulties he and his wife have faced pale in comparison to the grief experienced by the family of Rob and Michele.

He added, “Whatever difficulties my wife and I have experienced having our name attached to it are nothing compared to the scale of the tragedy for the family and the loss of Rob and Michele. If you're a known person, your name is going to get dragged into things sometimes, but it is not a hardship. There is only sadness that they're gone.”

O’Brien’s statement highlights his intention to honor the memory of the Reiners and to avoid distracting from the profound impact of their deaths on those closest to them, especially as he prepares to host one of Hollywood’s most significant events, the Oscars, this weekend.