Simply awful news this weekend out of Hollywood:
Jeff Baena, a writer and director who was also married to actress Aubrey Plaza, has passed away from what law enforcement officials believe to have been a suicide.
He was 47 years old.
Baena was likely best known for directing the horror-comedy “Life After Beth,” the dark comedy “Joshy” and also for co-writing the cult classic “I Heart Huckabees” with filmmaker David O. Russell.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed this tragedy early on Saturday morning.
Baena was born and raised in Miami and later attended film school at New York University … he then moved to Los Angeles shortly after graduating to start his career in entertainment.
Overall, he has directed and/or written over a dozen feature films.
Baena began dating Plaza in back in 2011.
The spouses kept their relationship extremely private over the years, never even announcing their engagement or their wedding.
It wasn’t until Plaza referred to Baena as her “darling husband” in an Instagram post in May 2021 that most people even knew they had become husband and wife.
“So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that takes us to italia to cause some more trouble,” the star’s caption read at the time.
According to various sources, 47-year-old was discovered in his home by an assistant.
The call reporting his death came in around 10:30 p.m. Friday evening; the county medical examiner has not officially determined the cause.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.