Hollywood is mourning the death of Buffy and Gossip Girl alum Michelle Trachtenberg at the age of 39. The actress was found unresponsive at her Manhattan apartment on Wednesday morning and was pronounced dead by EMS workers. Trachtenberg was in a long-term relationship with producer Jay Cohen.
The EuroTrip actress recently shared a loving message for Cohen on Valentine’s Day, sharing their Halloween pic. It is assumed that the two started dating in 2020, even though they probably met sometime after 2014 when Trachtenberg signed on to Gersh Agency. Cohen is a partner at the agency, which happens to be one of Hollywood’s oldest talent agencies.
Fans are still shocked by Trachtenberg’s sudden death. She began her career in small ad roles before she landed her roles on Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Pete & Pete and All My Children. Her breakout role came in Harriet the Spy in 1996, following which she landed a role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. From 2008 to 2012, she played Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl.
Jay Cohen: Everything to know about Michelle Trachtenberg’s partner
Jay Cohen’s profile says that he is the partner and head of film finance and distribution at the Gersh Agency. The film finance and packaging division at Gersh was established in 2009 under Cohen. He was famous at the time for producing several films in Hollywood.
Before entering the film field, Cohen worked on Wall Street, spending six years at Van Kampen Merritt. According to an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015, Cohen shared that he started out as “an investment banker in New York” (via YouTube). His career took a turn when he moved to Los Angeles.
He shared that he “financed some movies for people by accident.” He learned that producers didn’t understand the filmmaking business at all and decided to venture into film production. He shared, “So I took the movie over, learned all about film production, started a production company with Dustin Hoffman, made a lot of movies.”
Cohen produced his first film, Swimming with Sharks, in 1994, and it was a critically acclaimed film. Cohen’s partnership with Dustin Hoffman and Village Roadshow Pictures Australia lasted three years, during which he produced A Walk on the Moon and Clubland.
He then went on to form Cosmic Entertainment, another production company in partnership with Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Kate Hudson. They produced Russell’s Dark Blue and several other films. Later, Cohen started his own company, Light Speed Media. The company’s filmography included Two for the Money, Mad Money, and Bride Wars.
On the personal front, Cohen has two daughters—Lili and Rachel. He shared several pics of them together on social media, including ones where he enjoyed a vacation with his two girls (via Instagram). Cohen’s most recent Instagram posts reflect his pro-Israeli stance in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Jay Cohen and Michelle Trachtenberg reportedly started dating in 2020
Jay Cohen and Michelle Trachtenberg‘s relationship timeline was blurry since they were private about their relationship. It was reported that they began dating in 2020 (via Us Weekly). However, it is possible that she met him way before when she signed up with Gersh Agency in 2014.
It was Cohen who first went public with the relationship, sharing a pic on Instagram with Trachtenberg on Independence Day in 2021. He shared in the caption, “#fireworks are every day with this one !!” The Gossip Girl actress made their relationship Instagram official with a Valentine’s Day post. She wrote:
I think we both agree I’m the better half. Hope everyone had a lovely day with your human.
Most recently on Valentine’s Day, Trachtenberg shared another message to Cohen on Instagram. She shared a photo of them together taken during Halloween, with her dressed as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and him dressed as Frankenstein. She wrote, “Happy Valentine’s Day to the man who sits still long enough for me to paint his face.”
Before Cohen, Trachtenberg was romantically linked to several celebrities. She reportedly dated Shawn Ashmore, Scott Stanford, singer Josh Groban, rapper Kid Cudi, and Jason Segel.
Jay Cohen mourns the loss of Michelle Trachtenberg
According to The New York Post, Michelle Trachtenberg was found dead at her apartment by her mother. An NYPD source told the outlet that she was pronounced dead by EMS workers who responded to a call reporting a woman experiencing cardiac arrest. Sources also shared that the city medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Daily Mail reported that Jay Cohen was “holding down the fort” at her family home in Los Angeles. According to the outlet, Cohen was teary-eyed when he answered the door at the actress’ Sherman Oaks home. He shared that “the family will not be commenting on the tragedy.” He also added that her sister and mother were not present at the LA home.
It was reported that the actress underwent a liver transplant within the last year, with sources suggesting that her body may have rejected the new liver. A source shared with PEOPLE that Trachtenberg was struggling before her sudden death. The source claimed that she had been suffering from “health issues” and was “really down emotionally”.
They told the outlet, “She told friends she was struggling. She was really, really sick and open with those in her circle about how much she was struggling.” Trachtenberg’s co-star from Harriet the Spy, Rosie O’Donnell, mourned the loss of her co-star in a statement and shared, “I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped” (via PEOPLE).
Trachtenberg’s last onscreen appearance was the Max reboot of Gossip Girl where she reprised her role as Georgina Sparks for two episodes. Her final film role came in the documentary, Spyral, where she voiced the role of Michelle Cody White.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
