Marriage often comes with a wave of support and celebration, but for Aubrey Plaza and her late husband Jeff Baena, it was a rollercoaster of unexpected and sometimes painful reactions.
- January 6, 2025
AceShowbiz - Following the tragic death of Aubrey Plaza's husband Jeff Baena, her interview about their marriage resurfaced. The 40-year-old actress opened up about some shocking reactions to their secret wedding.
Plaza and Baena had been romantically involved since 2011 and had a unique and solid bond. They eventually decided to commemorate their ten-year anniversary by tying the knot spontaneously during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020.
What should have been a period of joy and celebration for the couple turned nightmarish for Baena as some of Plaza's devout fans did not react well to the news of her marriage.
Plaza told Cosmopolitan in 2022 that "Jeff got death threats in his DMs," mainly from her queer fans who mourned her departure from singlehood. "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," Plaza explained.
During a December 2021 appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", Plaza shared delightfully quirky details about how they wed, "We got a little bored one night. We got married and I'll tell you how: Onehourmarriage.com. That's real, look it up."
Conducted in a whimsical, witchy home ceremony, she described a "very quick love altar in our yard" and a man from Alhambra arriving "in a Hawaiian shirt with a briefcase."
Sadly, on Friday, January 3, 2025, Baena was found dead by an assistant in their Los Feliz home. Authorities confirmed that Baena died by suicide at the age of 47.
In the wake of his death, Plaza has yet to publicly address the tragedy. However, the love she shared with Baena was unmistakable. In her last Instagram post with Baena in May 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."
Baena is survived by his wife, his mother Barbra Stern, stepfather Roger Stern, stepmother Michele Baena, brother Brad Baena, and stepsiblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.
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