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Jeff Baena, the longtime companion of Ingrid Goes West actress Aubrey Plaza, tragically handed away on January 3, 2025. TMZ was the primary to report the information on January 4. The filmmaker, whose credit embrace Plaza’s Life After Beth and I Coronary heart Huckabees, was simply 47 years previous. An announcement from the household, shared with Deadline on the identical day of his dying, mentioned, “The household is devastated and asks for privateness at this troublesome time.” On January 6, Plaza launched a press release to PEOPLE, calling her late husband’s dying an “unimaginable tragedy.”
Baena and Plaza had one in all Hollywood’s longest and most non-public romances, which ultimately led to a secret marriage ceremony. In honor of her late husband, Plaza wore a tie-dye shirt with particular significance throughout her look on Saturday Evening Stay’s fiftieth Anniversary on February 16, 2025. In a December 2021 interview on The Drew Barrymore Present, she shared that they broke custom by carrying tie-dye pajamas—made by Baena—for his or her marriage ceremony.
Amid the unhappy information, right here’s what it’s best to know concerning the relationship between The White Lotus actress and her husband.
When Did Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Meet?
In response to PEOPLE, Baena and Plaza met again in 2011, although little is thought about their early relationship. A 2022 GQ profile of Plaza revealed some candy particulars—they met over a recreation of Balderdash. In 2021, they appeared collectively for the final time on social media, with Plaza’s Instagram caption showcasing how proud she was of her achieved husband. “So happy with my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up one other movie that take us to Italia to trigger some extra bother,” she wrote on the time.
How Lengthy Have been Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Married?
In response to GQ, the 2 tied the knot in a “quickie ceremony” in 2020, so the duo had been married nearly 5 years and had been collectively for 13 years. Her rep confirmed to PEOPLE after her Might 2021 social media submit referring to him as her “husband,” that she and Baena had married. “It’s so nice, it’s so difficult,” she instructed host Drew Barrymore throughout a 2021 episode of her eponymous speak present. “It’s, like, excessive highs and excessive, you understand, problems. It’s a extremely laborious factor to navigate, however we’ve been collectively for 11 years. We simply muscle our manner by way of it.”
She additionally spoke of their time collectively throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, remembering it with heat. “We had been quarantined for months and months like all people else,” she recalled to PEOPLE, additionally in 2021. “And we did take pleasure in it. I believe it was, clearly apart from all the catastrophic issues occurring on the planet, simply on a private degree, relationship degree, was form of good to only be compelled to be in a single place for that lengthy.”
In her dialogue with GQ, she mirrored on the “peaks and valleys” of a longtime romance. “I’ve been with my husband for 12 years,” she instructed the outlet. “I relate to being in a relationship that has peaks and valleys, and going by way of a tough patch and evaluating your self to a different couple that appears excellent.”
In March 2025, it was revealed that Baena had been separated from Plaza since September 2024, in keeping with a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. A month later, Plaza reportedly obtained regarding messages from him, which led her to request a welfare verify. Following the welfare verify in October 2024, Baena started attending remedy. Plaza obtained her final textual content message from him on the day of his dying, at 10:36 a.m. ET.
What Occurred to Jeff Baena?
In response to TMZ, Baena was discovered after police and fireplace personnel responded to a name from an assistant round 10:30 AM. Experiences point out that Baena’s physique was found by his canine walker, who entered the residence and located him. The assistant had reportedly found Baena’s physique earlier than police and fireplace arrived to conduct a dying investigation. Regulation enforcement later confirmed that he died by suicide.
What Did Jeff Baena Do For a Residing?
Baena was an achieved filmmaker, screenwriter, and director. Educated at New York College Tisch College of the Arts, he later relocated to Los Angeles to launch his profession. He labored alongside Robert Zemeckis and David O. Russell, finally collaborating with Russell on I Coronary heart Huckabees and Meet the Fockers in 2004. His filmmaking debut got here a decade later with Life After Beth, which starred Plaza. The Little Hours and Horse Lady adopted, and Spin Me Spherical could be his remaining movie in 2022.
If you happen to or somebody you understand is in emotional misery or contemplating suicide, name the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
