Stand By Me star Corey Feldman has said he was sorry to be omitted from the tribute to Rob Reiner at the Oscars earlier this month.
At the start of the Academy Awards’ in memoriam section, Billy Crystal took to the stage to pay extended tribute to the writer and director and his wife, photographer Michele, who were killed in December.
Crystal was the joined by more than a dozen stars from Reiner’s films such as The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, This Is Spınal Tap and Misery, including Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Michael McKean, Annette Bening, Kathy Bates, Mandy Patinkin, Cary Elwes, Daphne Zuniga, Christopher Guest, Carol Kane and Kiefer Sutherland.
Feldman was speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the forthcoming 40th anniversary rerelease of Stand By Me, in which he starred alongside River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell and Wil Wheaton – of whom the latter two were on stage at the Oscars.
“I think Jerry and Wil did what had to be done,” said Feldman. “It was a fleeting moment, so I don’t feel like I missed much at all. Although they did a wonderful job, I would’ve liked to have heard from Wil and Jerry and a few other people up there.”
He added: “Personally, it felt a little bit like a family reunion I wasn’t invited to. It is what it is … 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.”
Feldman said plans had been afoot for events with Reiner to mark the anniversary, which have now been scaled down.
“We all would’ve loved to be able to say goodbye in our own ways. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” he said. “The best way we can say goodbye is honouring him and his work … and hopefully going out there to celebrate him one last time on a big screen where it deserves to be seen.”
The Reiners were found dead at their home on 14 December. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
As an adult, Feldman has said he is a survivor of child sexual abuse. His 2020 film, My Truth: The Rape of 2 Coreys, explores the relationship between himself and his late co-star Corey Haim, and claims they were both abused multiple times as children.
In 2020, a number of women made sexual assault allegations against Feldman, which he refutes, after his appointment to the Sag-Aftra sexual harassment committee. He was subsequently removed from the post.