Aubrey Plaza has shared a statement following the death of her husband, writer and director Jeff Baena, who died by suicide last week. He was 47.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy,” the statement, which was released on behalf of Plaza and her late husband's family, read (via People). “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”
Plaza, 40, and Baena met and began dating in 2011. The two kept their personal life low-profile, only confirming their May 2021 marriage after Plaza wrote in an Instagram caption that she was “so proud of my darling husband.”
Baena broke into the Hollywood scene when he co-wrote David O. Russell’s acclaimed 2004 film I Heart Huckabees, then continued on an arc as a writer and director. He and Plaza collaborated on films like Life After Beth (2014), which Baena wrote and directed, and Plaza starred as the titular zombie. Plaza’s directorial debut, a 2021 installment of Cinema Toast, was part of an anthology series that Baena created on Showtime.
Plaza, who most recently starred in Agatha All Along and The White Lotus, was originally scheduled to present at Sunday evening’s 2025 Golden Globes. She and Baena did not go unmentioned in the telecast, however: Best Director winner Brady Corbet, while accepting his statuette for The Brutalist, closed his speech with a brief tribute, saying, “Tonight my heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff’s family. Good night.”
If you need emotional support or are in crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
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