In January, news broke that Aubrey Plaza’s husband, director Jeff Baena, had died by suicide. While Plaza has been seen in public several times since then, last week she opened up about her loss for the first time on Amy Poehler’s podcast Good Hang.
The last time she referenced Baena’s death was during SNL’s 50th anniversary celebrations a month after he died. She introduced comedic acts on stage while wearing a blazer and a tie-dye t-shirt in homage to her late husband. The significance of which was made clear during her 2021 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show when Plaza revealed that she and Baena got ‘really into tie-dyeing’ during the pandemic and wore tie-dye pyjamas on their wedding day.
Famed for his dark comedies, Baena directed films including Life After Beth and The Little Hours and firstgained recognition when he co-wrote the 2004 film I Heart Huckabees. Hemet Plaza in 2011 and the pair married ten years later. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator, the couple separated in September 2024. On 3 January, he died at the age of 47 at his home in Los Angeles.
When Poehler asked how she was doing Plaza said, ‘Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you. Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning. I feel grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m OK, but it’s a daily struggle, obviously.’ However, The White Lotus and Parks and Recreation star added that it has been ‘a terrible, terrible, tragic year’.
‘This is a really dumb analogy – it was a joke at a certain point but I kind of mean it – have you seen the film The Gorge?’ she asked Poehler. ‘It’s like an alien movie with Miles Teller. In the movie, there’s a cliff on one side and a cliff on the other side and there’s a gorge in between and it’s filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them. I swear when I watched it, I was like, “That’s what this feels like, what my grief is like – or what grief could be like.” At all times there’s like a giant ocean of awfulness that’s like right there, and I can see it. And sometimes, I just want to dive into it and be in it. And then sometimes, I just look at it. And then sometimes, I’m just trying to get away from it. But it’s always there. It’s just always there. And the monster people are trying to get me like Miles Teller.’
Alongside their relationship, Plaza and Baena also worked together on several projects, including Life After Beth, and were a well-liked and well-respected couple in the entertainment industry. 'It’s so great. It’s so complicated,’ Plaza told Barrymore in 2021. ‘It’s extreme highs and extreme complications. It’s a really hard thing to navigate. But man, we’ve been together for 11 years. We just muscle our way through it.’
During the 2025 Golden Globes, which were held on 5 January, two days after Baena’s death, The Brutalist director Brady Corbet shared his condolences with Plaza and Baena’s family while accepting the Best Director award. ‘Finally, tonight my heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff’s family,’ he said. ‘Good night.’
If you are in the UK and need support with your mental health, help is available. The Samaritans are available 24 hours a day on 116 123 or www.samaritans.org. Mind offers advice and support in England and Wales on 0300 123 3393 or visit www.mind.org.uk.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across entertainment, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things pop culture for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow with equal respect).