New details about the relationship between Aubrey Plaza and her late husband, Jeff Baena, have surfaced as his autopsy has been released. Plaza and Baena dated for over a decade before secretly getting married in 2020. A medical examiner’s report revealed that the couple separated four months before his death.
According to the medical report obtained by PEOPLE, they separated in September 2024, and in October, Baena made “concerning remarks” to Plaza that “prompted her to call a friend to perform a welfare check on her husband.”
The welfare check prompted Baena to seek therapy that month after the couple was experiencing “marital difficulties.” On Jan. 3, the writer-director died by suicide.
Aubrey Plaza breaks silence on Jeff Baena’s death
The Parks and Recreation actress spoke to PEOPLE in a statement following the news of Baena’s death, “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.” Baena was found by his dogwalker who had entered the home and discovered his body. According to the report, the dog walker texted Plaza to inform her.
Since his death, Plaza has not made many public appearances but she honored her late husband by wearing a tie-dye shirt at the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special. She introduced Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard, who then performed “Nothing Compares 2 U” in tribute to both Prince and Sinéad O’Connor.
Plaza told Drew Barrymore in 2021 that Baena had been interested in the craft, “Jeff got really into tie-dyeing during the quarantine, so I decided that Jeff and I were going to wear tie-dye pajamas that he had made for us.”
That same year, she told Ellen DeGeneres on her eponymous show how the two decided to tie the knot after 10 years together.
“A lot of things happened during COVID for me. Yes, we got married. Big deal,” Plaza recalled. “We got a little bored one night. We got married and I’ll tell you how: Onehourmarriage.com. That’s real, look it up.”
“I created a very quick love altar in our yard. Facts of our love, little stones, smoke, fire. Things of that nature,” the White Lotus alum recalled at the time. “Then the man from Alhambra showed up in a Hawaiian shirt with a briefcase [to perform the ceremony]. … I can’t remember a lot of it, it was fuzzy. But I’m pretty sure it’s legal.”
Prior to them getting married, Plaza spoke about her relationship to Baena and how they are able to balance their hectic schedules. Baena was known for his writing and directing in Hollywood after working on films such as Life After Beth, The Little Hours, Horse Girl, and dozens more. Plaza starred in Life After Beth and has worked on Parks and Recreation, The White Lotus, My Old A–, and more.
“I think that one of the great things about our careers is that we are forced to be independent, take little breaks, go off and do our things and come back,” Plaza told the publication in 2019. “So it’s kind of fun. Nothing is ever the same. You don’t want to spend too much time a part. But I think that there’s a way that it can work and there’s a balance in that.”
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