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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 The filmmaker, whose credit embrace Plaza automobile Life After Beth and I Heart Huckabee, was simply 47 years outdated.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 supplied to Deadline on Saturday mentioned that “the family is devastated and asks for privacy at this difficult time.”
Baena and Plaza had certainly one of Hollywood’s longest, and most personal, long-term romances that ultimately 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 means 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 proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that take us to Italia to cause some more trouble,” 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 virtually 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 great, it’s so complicated,” she advised host Drew Barrymore throughout a 2021 episode of her eponymous discuss present. “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 additionally spoke of their time collectively through the COVID-19 pandemic, remembering it with heat. “We were quarantined for months and months like everybody else,” she recalled to PEOPLE, additionally 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 dialogue with GQ, she mirrored on the “peaks and valleys” of a longtime romance. “I’ve been with my husband for 12 years,” she advised 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 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 can be his last 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 lifeless earlier than police and hearth arrived to conduct a loss of life investigation. Law enforcement advised the outlet he died by suicide.
If you or somebody is in emotional misery or contemplating suicide, name the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).