Aubrey Plaza is mourning the loss of her husband of over ten years, Jeff Baena, who tragically took his own life at the age of 47. While the actress received millions of condolences from her fans, some messages stood out for their lack of sympathy, celebrating Plaza’s loss and joking about her being "single again."
Plaza is best known for her roles as April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation, Harper in The White Lotus, and Rio Vidal in the Marvel series Agatha All Along.
Highlights
- Several social media users posted messages about Aubrey Plaza being "single again" after she became a widow.
- Plaza's husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena, was confirmed to have died by suicide on January 3.
- Plaza and Baena started dating in 2011 and got married ten years later.
Following the news of her husband's tragedy, a group of social media users decided to post jokes about the unexpected death instead of offering support to the star.
Image credits: Noam Galai/Getty Images
"Just found out Aubrey Plaza is single again!" read one tactless comment, liked by over 3,700 users on X (formerly known as Twitter).
"Aubrey Plaza single? Hell yeah, dawg," another said.
"F**k yeah! Aubrey Plaza is back on the market!! XD" celebrated a separate user.
The couple had been dating since 2011 and tied the knot ten years later
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Many users condemned the tasteless comments and responded to the posters, who acted as though Plaza had divorced her husband instead of becoming a widow.
"This is a bit sickening. The woman just lost her husband," one of them replied.
"Take this down; she lost her husband!" another urged.
"Have some respect," someone else said, as a fourth added, "Try sending condolences instead…………."
Another user wrote: "She just lost her husband to suicide, and you thought now was an appropriate time for horny o'clock?"
Baena took his own life in his Los Angeles home
Image credits: SundanceTV
"No idea why I'm even bothering to engage with this but this made my stomach churn," commented somebody else.
Baena's body was discovered at his Los Angeles home by his assistant on Friday morning (January 3), as per the BBC.
The medical examiner for the County of Los Angeles gave the cause of death as suicide.
The filmmaker's family told Deadline they were "devastated" and have asked for privacy during this difficult time.
Multiple men shared tactless messages online, celebrating that Plaza was "back on the market" after the tragedy
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The screenwriter and film director is best known for Life After Beth, Joshy, The Little Hours, Horse Girl, Spin Me Round, and for co-writing I Heart Huckabees.
After graduating from NYU Film School, Baena moved to Los Angeles to build his career in the film industry. His first projects included working as a production assistant for Robert Zemeckis and as an assistant editor for writer-director David O. Russell.
His directorial debut came in 2014 with the zombie comedy film Life After Beth, which starred his wife. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.
The couple worked together on multiple projects, including Life After Beth, The Little Hours, and Spin Me Round
Image credits: CRITERION
In addition to Life After Beth, Plaza has starred in two other films directed by Baena: the medieval comedy The Little Hours (2017) and the dark comedy Spin Me Round (2022).
They also worked together on Plaza’s directorial debut, Showtime's anthology series Cinema Toast, created by Baena.
Baena had been in a relationship with Plaza since 2011. According to GQ, the pair met over a game of Balderdash.
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Though the couple kept their relationship private, Plaza has spoken several times about the importance of finding a healthy balance between her personal and professional life.
"I was like, 'We're either going to break up or stay together forever,'" she shared after working with her then-boyfriend on Life After Beth.
"It was great, he's a great director, and that didn't surprise me either because his brain is operating on another level — he's too smart, and he's got so many opinions, and he's a very confident person that always knows what he wants."
"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," the 40-year-old actress said in 2019.
"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."
They also worked together on Plaza's directorial debut, Showtime's anthology series Cinema Toast
Image credits: plazadeaubrey
The couple announced the news of their marriage in May 2021. "So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that takes us to italia to cause some more trouble," Plaza wrote on Instagram ahead of the premiere of Spin Me Around.
Plaza and Baena tied the knot during a "quickie ceremony" in 2020, as per GQ.
The filmmaker is survived by Aubrey Plaza; his mom, Barbara Stern, and stepfather, Roger Stern; his dad, Scott Baena, and his stepmother, Michele Baena; his brother, Brad Baena; and his stepsister and stepbrother, Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.
If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm or suicide ideation, help is available. International Hotlines provide resources.
Social media users responded to the men celebrating that Plaza was "single again"
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