Rob Reiner and a Legendary Hollywood Feud
The late Rob Reiner once created one of Hollywood’s most talked-about creative feuds by parodying Martin Scorsese on screen, in a clash that ultimately centered on the director’s trademark baseball caps.
Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer, 68, were found dead at their Los Angeles home on Sunday. Police have said their troubled son, Nick Reiner, 32, is “responsible” for the double homicide. In the aftermath, attention has returned to Reiner’s past rivalry with fellow iconic director Martin Scorsese, 83.
How the Feud Began
According to RadarOnline, the tension stemmed from Reiner’s role as documentary filmmaker Marty DiBergi in This Is Spinal Tap, the 1984 mockumentary that redefined screen comedy.
DiBergi was partly inspired by Scorsese’s earnest on-camera style in The Last Waltz, his 1978 documentary about The Band. Reiner portrayed the character as overly serious amid rising absurdity, which reportedly irritated Scorsese at the time.
Reiner later recalled, “Initially, Marty got mad,” though he added that Scorsese eventually came to appreciate the joke.
The Baseball Cap Controversy
The biggest sticking point was DiBergi’s constant baseball cap. Scorsese felt Reiner went too far with the detail, famously insisting, “You will never catch me wearing a baseball hat.”
That small choice became symbolic of the brief but intense creative tension between the two filmmakers.
The feud eventually softened into mutual respect. Years later, Reiner appeared in Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013, where the two revisited the old disagreement.
Reiner recalled Scorsese telling him, “Ah, I love it. I love that you did that.”
Revisiting Spinal Tap
Before his death, Reiner returned to his iconic role in Spinal Tap II. He described DiBergi in the sequel as trying to “make things right” after the band viewed the original film as a “hatchet job.”
Reiner joked about the character’s fictional career decline, noting that DiBergi “has not been the greatest filmmaker, let’s put it that way.”
A Legacy Remembered
As tributes continue to pour in, the baseball cap feud has resurfaced as a reminder of Reiner’s fearless comedy and willingness to satirize even the most revered figures in film, including those who later became his friends.
Reiner’s career spanned classics such as When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, Misery, and A Few Good Men, cementing his place as one of Hollywood’s most influential storytellers.
