Sending love. Jeff Baena passed away at the age of 47 on January 3, 2025. His cause of death was released by the Los Angeles Examiner’s Office a day after his death.
Jeff Baena was a filmmaker who wrote and directed Life After Beth , Joshy, The Little Hours, Horse Girl, and Spin Me Round. He’s a frequent collaborator with his wife Aubrey Plaza. “My first movie was a big learning experience on all fronts, and so working with her was a benefit because we have a shorthand and a close relationship,” he said in an interview with Newsweek. “As I’ve made more and more stuff, I’ve come to appreciate everything that she brings. She’s insanely talented and so smart and obviously really good at producing. And she’s writing. There are very few people who can wear as many hats as her, as elegantly as she does.”
Jeff Baena died two days before the 82nd Annual Golden Globes. Aubrey Plaza was scheduled to present at the awards ceremony, but she did not show up. The Brutalist director Brady Corbet dedicated his speech to Aubrey Plaza and Jeff’s family when he won Best Director at the ceremony. Celebrities sent their condolences to Plaza via social media. “Sending you so much love 🕊️,” Julia Fox wrote in a comment. “No words can touch this painful time. Only love and strength and support from everyone . I am so sorry,” Selma Blair added.
What was Jeff Baena’s cause of death?
Jeff Baena died by suicide on January 3, 2025. He was found in his Los Angeles home by his assistant at around 10:30 in the morning, according to law enforcement officials to ABC News. Plaza has not commented on his death at the time of writing. Baena’s family made a statement to Deadline that they are devastated and are asking for privacy at this difficult time.
Plaza and Baena met during a game of over a game of Balderdash. They started dating in 2011 and married in 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Parks and Recreation alum recalled how she convinced Baena to marry on their anniversary. “We got a little bored one night. We got married and I’ll tell you how: Onehourmarriage.com. That’s real, look it up,” she said on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Plaza booked a man from the website to marry them while they were wearing tie-dye pajamas. “I created a very quick love altar in our yard. Facts of our love, little stones, smoke, fire. Things of that nature. 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.”
Plaza recalled in an interview with Cosmopolitan that her husband received death threats after they got married. “People project so much stuff onto marriage, but it wasn’t some big statement I’m trying to make where I want everybody to react to it.”
In an interview with GQ, the Agatha All Along star expressed that she has always wanted kids, but opted not to start a family during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’ve been with my husband for 12 years. 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.”
Plaza’s last Instagram post of her husband was posted in 2021. She wrote, “So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that takes us to italia to cause some more trouble 😈 “
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, help is available. Call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free and confidential counseling.
