As the 2026 Oscar winners were announced, the show paused for a moment to pay tribute to the people we lost in the last year. This segment included a major section devoted to Rob and Michele Reiner, who died in December 2025. During that moment, a bunch of actors who worked with the late director came out on stage to honor them. However, Corey Feldman was not one of them. Now, the Stand By Me actor has opened up about not being included in the in memorium.
For the tribute to Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal – who was in When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap – gave a speech about the director, his work and his legacy. Then, after that, 17 actors who had all worked with Reiner came out on stage together to honor him and Michele. Corey Feldman was not there; however, his Stand By Me co-stars, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton and Kiefer Sutherland were. Speaking about all that, the Goonies actor told EW:
I think Jerry and Wil did what had to be done. It was a fleeting moment, so I don't feel like I missed much at all. 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. Although they did a wonderful job, I would've liked to have heard from Wil and Jerry and a few other people up there.
During this segment, Conan O’Brien, who was hosting the Oscars and was a close friend of Reiner, introduced the in memorium and Billy Crystal. The When Harry Met Sally star then came out and gave a speech that touched on key moments and films throughout the director’s career. He was the only person to speak on stage about Rob and Michele.
Article continues belowAfter Crystal’s speech, 17 actors came out together. This group was made up of performers who starred in This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, Misery, The American President and The Sure Thing, and you can see the full list of them below:
- Michael McKean
- Christopher Guest
- Jerry O'Connell
- Wil Wheaton
- Fred Savage
- Cary Elwes
- Mandy Patinkin
- Carol Kane
- Billy Crystal
- Meg Ryan
- Kiefer Sutherland
- Demi Moore
- Kevin Pollak
- Kathy Bates
- Annette Bening
- John Cusack
- Daphne Zuniga
Overall, the group starred in some of the best movies from the ‘80s, great films from the ‘90s, and a few of the best rom-coms ever made. So, it was lovely and overwhelming to see them all on the stage at the same time.
However, there were plenty of notable stars missing from this lineup. While we don’t know why some people weren’t there, Feldman did share his take on the whole situation. He made it clear that he was very happy it happened. But he also did feel like he wasn’t invited to “a family reunion,” as he explained:
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. 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.
Again, while the Stand By Me actor felt a bit left out, that’s not what he’s choosing to focus on.
Rob and Michele Reiner were tragically killed in December, and since then, tons of people who have worked with and admired them have paid tribute. Then, at the Oscars, the in memorium kicked off with this moment involving Crystal and lots of actors they had collaborated with, before it moved on to honor other greats we lost through a classic in memorium as well as two more breakout sections dedicated to the late Diane Keaton and Catherine O’Hara, which was done by Rachel McAdams, and the late Robert Redford, which Barbra Streisand came out for.
Sadly, this tribute didn’t include everyone. However, as Feldman said, it was still a lovely and moving way to pay homage to the great stars we lost in 2025.
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