Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena were separated for months before the filmmaker’s untimely death on January 3, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
It revealed that Plaza, 40, and Baena, 47, had been separated since September 2024, when the actress moved to New York.
A month after relocating to the east coast, Baena reportedly made “concerning remarks” to the actress, which “prompted her to call a friend to perform a welfare check on her husband.”
Further details outlined in the documents state that Baena had been attending therapy in the months leading up to his death after “experiencing recent marital difficulties.”
Baena had messaged Plaza at 10.36am, making it the last communication received by the actress before her husband’s unexpected passing. According to the medical examiner’s report, the director was found by his dogwalker at his Los Angeles home, where he was declared dead at the scene.
The sudden loss was first reported by TMZ on January 4, 2024, after news of his passing made headlines around the world.
Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena were together for over a decade before his untimely death, marrying in celebration of their 10 year anniversary during lockdown.
The couple tied the knot at home, in what Plaza described as a “witchy affair” in an interview with Ellen DeGenerous after lockdown ended:
“I created a very quick love altar in our yard. Facts of our love, little stones, smoke, fire. Things of that nature,” she told host DeGeneres.
“Then the man from Alhambra showed up in a Hawaiian shirt with a briefcase [to perform the ceremony]. … I can’t remember a lot of it, it was fuzzy. But I’m pretty sure it’s legal.”
In an interview with People, Aubrey Plaza spoke about her directorial debut and collaboration with husband Jeff Baena on the 2022 series Cinema Toast.
“Our house became this strange post-production facility and he’s downstairs on his Zooms or on his sessions and I’m upstairs editing, we’re just going back and forth,” Plaza said. “Yeah, it was very us. We were not baking sourdough bread, but we were sifting through hours of old movies and footage and re-cutting them together and just letting our minds go on a trip. So it was great.”
Jeff Baena was best known for his directorial debut, Life After Beth (2014), critically-acclaimed The Little Hours (2017), and co-writing I Heart Huckabees (2004), which was nominated for the 2004 Gotham Award for Best Feature.
Under a tribute shared by comedian and actor Adam Pally that read: “My heart breaks for my friend Aubrey and the Baena family and for all of us who spent time on his sets or at his house or in… his orbit. Thanks for believing in me Jeff, may your memory be a blessing,” Jeff Baena’s brother Brad responded with a gut-wrenching “I am broken”.
Aubrey Plaza has since issued a statement on behalf of the members of the Baena and Stern families, thanking everyone for their ongoing support.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support,” reads the joint statement.
“Please respect our privacy during this time.”
Aubrey Plaza Honours Late Husband’s Death
Aubrey Plaza chose to honour her late husband’s death in the most fitting way, during her unexpected appearance at Saturday Night Live’s 50th Anniversary celebration.
Appearing for the first time since news of Baena’s passing broke, the actress chose a simple black suit ensemble to mark the occasion. But it was more about what was under the suit that grabbed the most attention.
Unremarkable as it first appeared, it was later revealed that Plaza’s choice to pair a tie-dye t shirt with the suit was a significant statement.
Speaking about their lock down wedding a 2021 interview with Drew Barrymore, Plaza explained how Baena had “got really into tie-dyeing during the quarantine,” leading the pair to forgo traditional wedding attire for matching tie-dye pajamas “that he made for us.”
The special detail was a touching moment of tribute that conveyed more than any words possibly could.
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