Rob Reiner repeatedly and very bluntly criticized Rush Limbaugh, especially around Limbaugh’s cancer diagnosis, his Medal of Freedom, and his death.

Key things Rob Reiner said

  • After Rush Limbaugh received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the 2020 State of the Union, Reiner wrote that there was “only one thing to say” about it and that he loathed Limbaugh, using an expletive in the phrase “I loathe this f***ing man.”
  • When Limbaugh later announced his advanced lung cancer diagnosis, those same “I loathe this f***ing man” comments were widely cited as Reiner refusing to show sympathy because he believed Limbaugh had done serious harm through his rhetoric.
  • The day after Limbaugh died in February 2021, Reiner posted that Limbaugh was a “liar” and a “purveyor of disinformation,” adding that there was “no scarcity” of such figures and that to protect democracy people must keep calling out their “big lies,” “starting with climate change.”

How people reacted

  • Many conservatives and right‑leaning commentators saw Reiner’s posts as cruel or “classless,” arguing that he was effectively attacking a man immediately after his death instead of showing basic respect.
  • Supporters of Reiner countered that he was “speaking truth to power,” focusing on Limbaugh’s public record and his long‑term spread of misinformation rather than celebrating his death.
  • After Rob Reiner’s own death in late 2025, these old Limbaugh comments resurfaced and were compared to sharp reactions from political figures to Reiner’s killing, turning the whole exchange into a new round of partisan debate.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.