Aubrey Square and the family of her late husband Jeff Baena ask for privacy as they deal with the aftermath of the filmmaker’s death.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy,” read a statement to USA TODAY on behalf of Plaza and the Baena family. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”
The writer-director died Friday at his California home, according to Los Angeles County medical examiner records reviewed by USA TODAY. He was 47 years old.
On Monday, Baena’s cause of death was ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.
Baena was also known for directing the films “The Little Hours” and “Horse Girl” and co-writing David O. Russell’s “I Heart Huckabees.” His most recent film was 2022’s “Spin Me Round,” starring Plaza and Alison Brie. Plaza also starred in “Life After Beth” and “The Little Hours.”
Baena and Plaza were married since 2020 and began dating in 2010. According to a GQ profile of Plaza published in 2022, they met “while playing Balderdash.”
The “Parks and Recreation” star told Ellen DeGeneres in 2021 that she and Baena “got a little bored one night” and got married via a “one-hour marriage” website during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“I just said, ‘Hey, it’s our 10th anniversary. We should do something, get an ice cream cone and do something special,'” he told DeGeneres. “And then I joked about getting married, and he said, ‘Well, we probably couldn’t get married that quickly. And I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to get married on our actual anniversary?’ And then I Googled it and found onehourmarriage.com.”
This article originally appeared in USA TODAY: Aubrey Plaza breaks silence on the death of her husband Jeff Baena