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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 first to report the news a day later, on January 4. The filmmaker, whose credits include Plaza vehicle Life After Beth and I Heart Huckabee, was just 47 years old. The outlet reports he was found by an assistant around 10:30 AM on Friday. A statement provided to Deadline on Saturday said that “the family is devastated and asks for privacy at this difficult time.”
Baena and Plaza had one of Hollywood’s longest, and most private, long-term romances that eventually culminated in a super-secret wedding. Amid the sad news, here’s what to know about the relationship between The White Lotus actress and her husband.
When Did Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Meet?
Jeff Baena and Aubrey Plaza at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Sonia Recchia/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)
According to PEOPLE, Jeff and Aubrey met way back in 2011, and little is known about their early relationship. A GQ profile of Plaza in 2022 reveals the sweet details — they met over a game of Balderdash. In 2021, they appeared for the last time together on social media, but the Instagram caption revealed how proud she was of her accomplished husband. “So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that take us to Italia to cause some more trouble,” she wrote at the time.
How Long Were Aubrey Plaza & Jeff Baena Married?
According to GQ, the two tied the knot in a “quickie ceremony” in 2020, so the duo had been married almost five years and were together for 13 years. Her rep confirmed to PEOPLE after her May 2021 social media post referring to him as her “husband,” that she and Baena had married. “It’s so great, it’s so complicated,” she told host Drew Barrymore during a 2021 episode of her eponymous talk show. “It’s, like, extreme highs and extreme, you know, complications. It’s a really hard thing to navigate, but we’ve been together for 11 years. We just muscle our way through it.”
She also spoke of their time together during the COVID-19 pandemic, remembering it with warmth. “We were quarantined for months and months like everybody else,” she recalled to PEOPLE, also in 2021. “And we did enjoy it. I think it was, obviously other than all of the catastrophic things happening in the world, just on a personal level, relationship level, was kind of nice to just be forced to be in one place for that long.”
In her discussion with GQ, she reflected on the “peaks and valleys” of a longtime romance. “I’ve been with my husband for 12 years,” she told the outlet. “I relate to being in a relationship that has peaks and valleys, and going through a rough patch and comparing yourself to another couple that seems perfect.”
What Did Jeff Baena Do For a Living?
Baena was an accomplished filmmaker, screenwriter, and director. Educated at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, he later relocated to Los Angeles to launch his career. He worked alongside Robert Zemeckis and David O. Russell, ultimately collaborating with Russell on I Heart Huckabees and Meet the Fockers in 2004. His filmmaking debut came a decade later with Life After Beth, which starred Plaza. The Little Hours and Horse Girl followed, and Spin Me Round would be his final film in 2022.
What Happened to Jeff Baena?
According to TMZ, Jeff Baena was found after police and fire responded to a call from an assistant around 10:30 AM. The assistant had reportedly found him dead before police and fire arrived to conduct a death investigation. Law enforcement told the outlet he died by suicide.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
