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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 The filmmaker, whose credit embody Plaza automobile Life After Beth and I Heart Huckabee, was simply 47 years outdated. The outlet stories he was discovered by an assistant round 10:30 AM on Friday. An announcement offered to Deadline on Saturday mentioned 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 concerning the relationship between The White Lotus actress and her husband.
When Did Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Meet?
According to PEOPLE, Jeff and Aubrey met approach again in 2011, and little is understood about their early relationship. A GQ profile of Plaza in 2022 reveals the candy particulars — they met over a sport 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 achieved 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 Long Were Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Married?
According 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 May 2021 social media publish referring to him as her “husband,” that she and Baena had married. “It’s so nice, it’s so sophisticated,” she informed host Drew Barrymore throughout a 2021 episode of her eponymous discuss present. “It’s, like, excessive highs and excessive, you realize, problems. It’s a extremely laborious factor to navigate, however we’ve been collectively for 11 years. We simply muscle our approach by means 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 everyone else,” she recalled to PEOPLE, additionally in 2021. “And we did get pleasure from it. I feel it was, clearly apart from the entire catastrophic issues taking place on the planet, simply on a private stage, relationship stage, was sort of good to only be pressured 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 informed 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 excellent.”
What Did Jeff Baena Do For a Living?
Baena was an achieved filmmaker, screenwriter, and director. Educated at New York University Tisch School 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 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 Girl adopted, and Spin Me Round could be his closing movie in 2022.
What Happened to Jeff Baena?
According to 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 useless earlier than police and hearth arrived to conduct a dying investigation. Law enforcement informed the outlet he died by suicide.
If you or somebody you realize is in emotional misery or contemplating suicide, name the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).