Aubrey Plaza Says Her Grief for Her Husband Is Like an Ocean of Sadness She Sometimes Wants to Dive Right Into

In May 2021, Aubrey Plaza posted a pic to Instagram with her longtime beau, Jeff Baena, and captioned it, “So proud of my darling husband for dreaming up another film that takes us to Italia to cause some more trouble.” Although the post was dedicated to their Spin Me Round, Aubrey sneakily dropped “my darling husband Jeff” for a little shock factor.

Aubrey's reveal that she and her boyfriend were married was the kind of unorthodox announcement one might expect from one of her quirky characters. The two had been together since 2011, but she chose to keep their relationship out of the limelight. Sadly, Jeff died by suicide in January 2025, and Aubrey has continued with her dedication to privacy, until now. Here's what we know.

Aubrey deactivated her Instagram following her husband's death. In August 2025, she was a guest on Amy Poehler's podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehler, where her friend and former coworker asked how she was doing. "Right in this very very present moment I feel happy to be with you," said Aubrey while petting her dog Frankie. "Overall, I'm here, and I'm functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world."

Grief isn't linear, which means for Aubrey, it's a "daily struggle." Aubrey said her grief felt like there was a giant ocean of sadness, and sometimes she just wanted to dive right into it. Other times, she just wants to look at it. "Sometimes I'm trying to get away from it, but it's always there," said Aubrey.

Aubrey spoke with People back in 2019 about her then eight-year relationship with her late husband, Jeff. "I think that when you're with someone that is in your field, they understand what you're dealing with on a deeper level," she revealed. "So obviously you are able to support each other and really understand kind of the journey that we're both on.”

As far as the pandemic, it seems like it brought Aubrey and Jeff even closer together. “We were quarantined for months and months like everybody else. And we did enjoy it,” Aubrey told the outlet.

“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. Could have gone either way, I guess."

Being in the film industry together also made their quarantine fruitful in a creative sense. Aubrey made her directorial debut with an episode of Jeff’s Showtime endeavor, Cinema Toast. She shared that their house became a sort of “strange post-production facility” as they worked on the project together.

But before Cinema Toast, Aubrey had actually starred in Jeff’s directorial debut, Life After Beth, a fun twist on a zombie flick. Their joint indie style and thought-provoking takes on death, social media, and life made them the perfect partners, both in love and work. After Amy was done chatting with Aubrey for the podcast, she told fans to check out the beautiful films the couple worked on together, as well as Jeff's solo work.