Billy Crystal has spent decades making audiences laugh, but his latest interview reveals a struggle that humor has not resolved. The 78-year-old actor and comedian says he no longer talks to God after losing his family home and two close friends during a devastating year.
Speaking with Tracy Smith on CBS Sunday Morning in an interview broadcast October 11, Crystal was asked whether he still had conversations with God, as he described in his earlier Broadway show, 700 Sundays. His response was blunt: "No, 'cause I don't trust him." When Smith asked whether he was serious, he confirmed that repeated tragedy and the frightening state of the world had changed his outlook.
His remarks, highlighted by ChurchLeaders on October 14, followed a discussion of the January 2025 Pacific Palisades wildfire that destroyed the home he shared with his wife, Janice. The loss took away a place filled with decades of family memories, and Crystal acknowledged that financial security could not cancel the emotional pain.
Another blow followed in December 2025, when his longtime friend and collaborator Rob Reiner and Reiner's wife, Michele, were killed in their home. Crystal said he had been with them at a holiday gathering the previous evening. Asked whether he had processed their deaths, he indicated that the loss remained too overwhelming to comprehend.
Those experiences now inform 860, his new one-man Broadway production, named after the street address of the house he lost. Reiner helped him choose the title before his death, giving the production an additional connection to a friendship Crystal is still grieving. The show explores the home's significance and his family's efforts to move forward.
For Christian readers, the interview raises a difficult pastoral question: how should believers respond when someone's suffering erodes their willingness to pray? The biblical language of lament offers room to acknowledge anguish before attempting explanations. Psalm 13 begins with a cry about God's apparent absence, while the Book of Job gives sustained attention to grief that friends cannot resolve with confident answers.
Crystal's comments deserve that same careful listening. His stated struggle concerns trust and communication with God; the interview does not justify broader claims about every aspect of his religious beliefs. Treating his words as an invitation to compassion allows readers to consider the person experiencing loss as well as the theological questions his remarks provoke.
Despite his grief, Crystal also expressed optimism about the future and appreciation for the people supporting him. His return to the stage brings those realities together: sorrow remains, but family, friendship and creative work continue to give him reasons to move forward.
Watch the interview: Billy Crystal On Finding Humor In The Darkest Of Times
