Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena were reportedly separated for 4 months before his death

Actress Aubrey Plaza and her late husband Jeff Baena had been quietly separated for months before Baena was found dead at his apartment on January 3. This information was revealed in the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's report, which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena got married back in 2021. The couple had been in a relationship for a decade before they decided to tie the knot. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the couple had been separated since September 2024.

According to People Magazine, Baena had been going for therapy sessions since October in order to reportedly deal with issues of “marital difficulty.” As per the report, Plaza, who had moved to New York since the couple’s separation in September, received a message from Baena. The message left her worried, and as a result, she had asked a friend to make a ‘welfare check’ on Baena. Jeff Baena reportedly began therapy after the incident.

Although Plaza and Baena had been separated for months, they did keep in touch. According to reports, the couple had spoken the night before Baena died by suicide on January 3. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Baena had texted his wife just three hours before his dead body was found.

Baena had been residing in Los Angeles at the time of his death. On January 3, the indie filmmaker’s dead body was found at his residence. According to a report by E! News, Baena’s dog walker arrived as per schedule and was surprised to hear loud music coming from Baena's residence. Later, she found Baena’s dead body.

Authorities investigating the death later confirmed that Jeff Baena had committed suicide. A statement released jointly by Jeff Baena’s family and Aubrey Plaza mourned Baena’s passing, stating:

“This is an unimaginable tragedy…We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support.”

In an obituary shared by Baena’s family, which was originally published in the Miami Herald, the Baena family paid tribute to his work, stating:

“His body of work is testimony to his keen intellect. Each of his films reflects a carefully crafted balance of the logical and the implausible. His juxtaposition of intellect and creativity challenged us. He embraced independent film making because of his unalterable distaste for institutional guardrails on creativity.”

Jeff Baena made his directorial debut with Life After Beth in 2014, which premiered at the prestigious Sundance film festival. His debut film was also nominated for the Grand Jury award at the same festival.

Following the critical acclaim received by his debut film, Baena directed films like Joshy, The Little Hours, The Horse Girl. Spin Me Round, released in 2022, was his last film.

Aubrey Plaza was Baena's frequent collaborator. The actress starred in all of her husband’s films, in which she often played the lead role.

Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Bean’s marriage and their last collaboration

Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena rarely shared sneak peeks into their personal life with the media and fans. The couple had been dating since 2011, as per E! News.

In 2021, Audrey Plaza, in a rare post about her relationship with Jeff Baena, shared the news of their marriage on Instagram while giving fans an update about their fourth collaboration together.

The post, which was shared by E! News in the wake of Plaza’s deactivation of her Instagram account, read:

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

Unfortunately, with the passing away of Baena at the age of 47, their fourth collaboration ended up becoming the last time they worked together.