A breakdown of Aubrey Plaza and late husband Jeff Baena's relationship amid reports of separation months before his suicide

Aubrey Plaza and husband Jeff Baena were reportedly separated months before the director's suicide. Citing a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, People magazine reported that the couple were "experiencing recent marital difficulties" and had allegedly separated in September 2024.

For the unversed, Baena's dog walker discovered his body on January 3, and responding officers pronounced him dead on the scene. Per the medical examiner's report, the cause of death was determined to be suicide with no suspicions of foul play. At the time, Plaza and Baena's family shared a joint statement calling his death "an unimaginable tragedy."

Jeff Baena at the 48th Seattle International Film Festival - Source: Getty

ME's report noted that a month after they separated, Baena made "concerning remarks" to Plaza, prompting her to request a "friend to perform a welfare check" on him. Since then, the director had been going to therapy. Further, the document suggested that Baena texted the Parks and Recreation star just hours before his death.

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Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena began dating in 2011, and the pair were married in 2021

Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena were together for 13 years before the latter's death. The couple kept their private lives away from the public eye, and little is known about their early relationship.

While it is unclear when the two first met, in a November 2022 profile on Aubrey, GQ reported that they met over a game of Balderdash. Per the publication, they began dating in 2011.

Jeff Baena, who began his career as a screenwriter, made his directorial debut working on the 2014 film Life After Beth. The zombie comedy starred Plaza in the lead. While they previously worked together on projects like The End of Love, this was their first major collaboration.

In a February 2017 interview with Page Six, Aubrey Plaza noted that both she and Baena were obsessed with movies, which is why they made movies together. The same year, the couple teamed up for Jeff Baena's medieval comedy The Little Hours. Plaza produced and starred in the film.

In June 2019, Plaza discussed her relationship in a rare interview with People magazine. Talking about dating while being in the same industry, Aubrey Plaza noted that it was "great" as well as "challenging," adding:

"There’s a lot of things we do separately and I think that it’s all about balance. 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."

She continued:

"So it’s kind of fun. Nothing is ever the same. You don’t want to spend too much time apart. But I think that there’s a way that it can work and there’s a balance in that."

Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena worked together again for Plaza's 2021 directorial debut, Cinema Toast. The found-footage series was created by Baena. Talking about making the show during the pandemic, Plaza told People:

"Our house became this strange post-production facility and he's downstairs on his Zooms or on his sessions and I'm upstairs editing, we're just going back and forth."

The actress explained that they enjoyed the time, noting that it was "nice" to be forced in "one place," but added, "Could have gone either way."

In a May 2021 Instagram post, Aubrey Plaza casually revealed she and Baena were married when she referred to him as her "darling husband." In the post (since deleted), the actress wrote:

"So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that takes us to italia to cause some more trouble."

In 2022, the couple worked on their fourth and final project together, Spin Me Round.

The Emily the Criminal actress made her first public appearance since Baena’s passing during Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special last month. At the time, she wore a tie-dye shirt in honor of her late husband (they wore tie-dye pajamas during their wedding ceremony). In a December 2021 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Plaza explained:

"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."

Aubrey Plaza also explained that the wedding was "like a joke that honestly went too far." She elaborated that they tied the knot on a whim, adding,

"(We) decided at around 5 p.m. and got married at 8:30."

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Plaza has not publicly commented on the development yet.