Aubrey Plaza has made her first public appearance since the death of her husband, Jeff Baena, at Saturday Night Live’s 50th Anniversary. Let’s talk about it.
If you’ve ever laughed at an uncomfortable joke made by someone on television, it was most likely the dry humor of accomplished actor Aubrey Plaza that made you question whether you should be laughing or not. An American actress, comedian, and producer, Plaza is best known for her role as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. The television star graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and she began her career by performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Although widely known by audiences for her sense of humor and wide variety of roles played in films ranging from Scott Pilgrim V. The World to Emily the Criminal, the recent death of Plaza’s husband has caused her fans to step away from the jokes to support the globally recognized and respected actress.
On January 3rd, 2025, filmmaker Jeff Baena died by suicide, discovered by an assistant at a Los Angeles home in the morning. Baena was an accomplished filmmaker, attending film school at NYU and later going on to have
more than a dozen directing and filming credits to his name, according to People Magazine. He even collaborated with Plaza on projects such as Life After Beth, which Plaza starred in. Out of all of his films, Baena’s most successful are known to be I Heart Huckabees and Horse Girl. However, a multitude of his films were beloved by members of the film industry, and he surely left a meaningful legacy behind through his talent and passion for the art of filmmaking.
Baena and Plaz began dating in 2011. It’s made clear that the relationship of the two was always kept private and special, away from the eyes of the public despite their busy lives in the film industry. There’s something meaningful about that, if you ask me. Their marriage wasn’t announced until Plaza spoke on The Ellen Show about it. After suggesting to Baena to do something special that day for their tenth anniversary, Plaza said to the audience, “I Googled Onehourmarriage.com.” A few hours later, the couple had been married in their backyard. In her interview with Ellen, Plaza explained that during the pandemic, she and Baena took up new hobbies. “My husband got really into tie-dying, and when I say “really into tie-dying”, I mean fifty shirts a day.” Keeping his tie-dye phase in mind, Plaza honored her husband at SNL’s 50th Anniversary by showing up in one of his famous tie-dye shirts, making a meaningful, honor-filled first appearance back into the public eye after being unseen for the weeks following Baena’s death. Alongside honoring her late husband by wearing her tie-dye shirt, Plaza released the following public statement according to CBS News: “This is an unimaginable tragedy,” Plaza and the family said in the statement. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.” 
In the face of tragedy, Plaza presented herself as a strong, resilient force by showing up to contribute to SNL’s 50th Anniversary show. Just as Aubrey Plaza’s wonderfully eccentric sense of humor has brought comfort to us in times of need, let each of us film and TV lovers lend Plaza the same support as she grieves the loss of her husband. I know that my respect for Plaza has only grown in the past months as she managed to pay tribute to the love of her life in the most beautiful way one could imagine. If you want to know a way to know Jeff Baena and his work better, perhaps you’ll watch one of his films, and appreciate his talents in a new way. Or maybe you’ll tie-dye a t-shirt, too, because the world can always use more color when tragedy strikes.
