Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
Following the tragic death of her husband Jeff Baena, Aubrey Plaza made the understandable decision to pull out of attending the Golden Globes.
Parks & Recreation star Aubrey was set to present at the prestigious event, but her husband sadly died by suicide just two days before.
The 47-year-old director was found unresponsive by his assistant in his Los Angeles home on 3 January, before law enforcement officers attended.
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He was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.
The LA County Medical Examiner's Office has since ruled Jeff's death as suicide.
A statement from the Los Angeles' Fire Department said, via the Daily Mail: "Death was determined for an approximately 47-year old male, no transport."
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In a statement, Aubrey's reps told Deadline that 'the family is devastated and asks for privacy at this difficult time'.
Aubrey was set to join Salma Hayek, Anya Taylor-Joy and Anthony Ramos at the 82nd Golden Globes last night. PEOPLE magazine has since confirmed the star's absence.
Tributes were paid to Jeff during the event, with director Brady Corbet mentioning him during his speech after winning best movie director for The Brutalist.
He ended by saying, "Finally, tonight my heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff's family."
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The couple were notoriously private about their relationship, with many fans not realising they had married until Aubrey referred to Jeff as her "husband" in a social media post.
They first met back in 2011 when she auditioned for his film, Life After Beth.
The couple worked on multiple projects together, including Joshy and Horse Girl, before Jeff eventually proposed after ten years together.
They married in private, with it only coming to light when Aubrey made the reference on Instagram in May 2021, as she praised her husband for his Spin Me Round project.
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"So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that takes us to Italia to cause some more trouble," she wrote.
Talking about his career back in 2014, Jeff told Seensome: "It’s all I ever want to do; it felt really comfortable and fun. I’ve been a writer for twelve years now and it was always a means to an end, I never wanted to be a writer, I wanted to be a director so this was always my intention and it felt right."
Jeff leaves behind Aubrey, his mother Barbara Stern, stepfather Roger Stern, father Scott Baena, stepmother Michelle Baena, brother Brad Baena, and stepsiblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Golden Globes
Jen Thomas