Billy Crystal Says He Stopped Talking to God After Palisades Fire, Rob Reiner Murder: ‘I Don’t Trust Him’

Billy Crystal candidly shared in an interview Sunday that his year of loss — between his Palisades home burning down in the Los Angeles wildfires and the December 2025 murder of his longtime friend and collaborator Rob Reiner — changed his relationship with God. Whereas he detailed conversations with God in “700 Sundays,” the Tony-winning one-man show from 2004 recounting the loss of his father when he was 15, Crystal admitted going into his new show “860” that his faith has taken a hit. “No, ‘cause I — I don’t trust him,” Crystal told “CBS Sunday Morning” correspondent Tracy Smith when asked if he still talks to God. Surprised, she responded asking if he was being serious. “Yeah. Too many bad things have happened,” he said. “The Earth is in bad shape, this is a weird, scary time. So no, not anymore.” The spotlight segment aired 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. He explained that pushing through the “darkest of times” with humor is nothing new for him: “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.” But he added that “860” in particular has helped him heal in the aftermath of the fires and the Reiners’ deaths, which he said 10 months later is still “too big” and “insane” to fully comprehend. “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.” “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.” Watch the interview in full below: Crystal has previously spoken at length about his relationship with Rob and Michelle Reiner, who were found murdered in their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home on Dec. 14, 2025; he remembered them in a joint statement with Albert Brooks, Larry David and others at the time as “a special force together-dynamic, unselfish and inspiring.” “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever,” the statement read. Crystal also planned the 2026 Oscars’ tribute to Reiner himself — an extended onstage in memoriam that ended with the actor being joined by other stars of Reiner’s movies, including Meg Ryan, Kathy Bates, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Annette Bening, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga. “It’s a profound loss for, I’m just gonna say humanity, because he was the most human person that I ever met,” he told Stephen Colbert in April. Crystal’s “860” is currently in previews and opens on Broadway Oct. 21.