
Aubrey Plaza makes first public appearance on ‘SNL50' since husband Jeff Baena's death
Aubrey Plaza made her first public appearance since her husband, director Jeff Baena, died last month. The 'Parks and Recreation' star appeared briefly on 'SNL50' on Feb. 16 when she introduced a musical performance.
Plaza welcomed Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard to the 'SNL' stage before the duo performed 'Nothing Compares 2 U,' which was written by Prince and later recorded by Sinéad O'Connor.
'Ladies and gentlemen, Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard,' Plaza said, while holding a microphone as she stood in the audience with her back to the stage.
Plaza was wearing a blazer over a tie-dyed shirt. She previously spoke about her late husband's interest in tie-dying, noting that the style was part of their outfits when they got married.
'Jeff got really into tie-dying during the quarantine, so I decided that Jeff and I were going to wear tie-dye pajamas that he had made for us,' Plaza said on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' in 2021. 'I made a love altar in the backyard of all of our love objects. It was very witchcore, but it happened.'
Plaza has not been seen in public since Baena died by suicide on Jan. 3.
'This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support,' his family said in a statement following his death. 'Please respect our privacy during this time.'
Baena co-wrote the 2004 movie 'I Heart Huckabees,' created the 2021 Showtime anthology series 'Cinema Toast' and directed the 2020 Netflix film 'Horse Girl.'
He and Plaza also collaborated over the years on several projects including 'Life After Beth,' 'The Little Hours' and 'Spin Me Round.'
When Brady Corbet won the Golden Globe Award for best director for 'The Brutalist' on Jan. 5, he mentioned Baena and Plaza in his acceptance speech while honoring people he knew who recently died.
'And finally, tonight my heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff's family. Goodnight,' Corbet said.
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South Wales Guardian
a day ago
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Aubrey Plaza details ‘daily struggle' after death of her husband Jeff Baena
The filmmaker died in January at the age of 47, with the Los Angeles County medical examiner concluding he took his own life. The director and screenwriter was found at a home close to the Fern Dell Nature Trail near the Hollywood Hills, with the cause of his death determined as hanging. Plaza discussed dealing with grief during an appearance on her Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler's podcast. She said: 'Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you. 'Overall, I'm here and I'm functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I'm ok, but it's like a daily struggle, obviously.' She told Poehler's Good Hang podcast that she compared her grief to the 2025 movie The Gorge, which stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. She said: 'This is a really dumb analogy and it was kind of a joke at a certain point, but I actually mean it. Did you see that movie The Gorge? … In the movie, there's a cliff on one side and there's a cliff on the other side, then there's a gorge in between and it's filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them. 'I swear, when I watched it, I was like that feels like what my grief is like … or what grief could be like. 'At all times, there's like a giant ocean of awfulness, that's right there and I can see it. 'Sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just like be in it. Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But, it's always there.' Plaza separated from Baena in September 2024, according to a report by the Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator. The couple had been in a relationship since around 2011 and they married a decade later. Plaza told The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December 2021 that they made the decision to tie the knot after getting 'a little bored one night' during the Covid pandemic. The pair worked together on the 2014 horror film Life After Beth and 2017 historical comedy The Little Hours. Plaza is best known for her role as April in the workplace comedy Parks and Recreation, in which Poehler played politician Leslie Knope. She is also famous for her role in the second series of The White Lotus and the Marvel series Agatha All Along. She has also starred in Hollywood films including Megalopolis, My Old Ass, Ingrid Goes West, Dirty Grandpa and Emily The Criminal. Baena wrote 2020 thriller Horse Girl, starring Alison Brie, and 2022 dark comedy Spin Me Round, both of which he also directed, as well as 2004 comedy I Heart Huckabees, starring Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman and Mark Wahlberg. He also created the anthology comedy series Cinema Toast, which had an episode directed by Plaza and another starring Community actress Alison Brie.