Jeff Baena, the longtime love of Ingrid Goes West actress Aubrey Plaza, tragically died on Saturday, January 3, 2025. TMZ was the primary to report the information a day later, on January 4. The filmmaker, whose credit embody Plaza car Life After Beth and I Coronary heart Huckabee, was simply 47 years previous. The outlet experiences he was discovered by an assistant round 10:30 AM on Friday. A press release offered to Deadline on Saturday stated that “the household is devastated and asks for privateness at this troublesome time.”
Baena and Plaza had one among Hollywood’s longest, and most non-public, long-term romances that finally culminated in a super-secret marriage ceremony. Amid the unhappy information, right here’s what to know in regards to the relationship between The White Lotus actress and her husband.
When Did Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Meet?
Based on PEOPLE, Jeff and Aubrey met manner again in 2011, and little is thought about their early relationship. A GQ profile of Plaza in 2022 reveals the candy particulars — they met over a recreation of Balderdash. In 2021, they appeared for the final time collectively on social media, however the Instagram caption revealed how proud she was of her completed husband. “So happy with my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up one other movie that take us to Italia to trigger some extra hassle,” she wrote on the time.
How Lengthy Had been Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Married?
Based on 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 put up 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 recognize, issues. It’s a extremely laborious factor to navigate, however we’ve been collectively for 11 years. We simply muscle our manner by means of it.”
She additionally spoke of their time collectively through the COVID-19 pandemic, remembering it with heat. “We had been quarantined for months and months like everyone else,” she recalled to PEOPLE, additionally in 2021. “And we did get pleasure from it. I feel it was, clearly aside from all the catastrophic issues taking place on the planet, simply on a private stage, relationship stage, 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 means of a tough patch and evaluating your self to a different couple that appears good.”
What Did Jeff Baena Do For a Residing?
Baena was an completed 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 closing movie in 2022.
What Occurred to Jeff Baena?
Based on TMZ, Jeff Baena was discovered after police and hearth responded to a name from an assistant round 10:30 AM. The assistant had reportedly discovered him lifeless earlier than police and hearth arrived to conduct a loss of life investigation. Regulation enforcement instructed the outlet he died by suicide.
In case you or somebody you recognize is in emotional misery or contemplating suicide, name the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).