Aubrey Plaza Bravely Opens Up About Her ‘Grief’ After Husband Jeff Baena’s Passing

Aubrey Plaza is opening her heart about navigating grief after the devastating loss of her husband, Jeff Baena. The “White Lotus” star joined her close friend Amy Poehler on the Good Hang podcast, where Poehler sensitively addressed the heartbreaking year Plaza has had and the strength it has taken to keep moving forward.

Plaza Says Grief Is “a Daily Struggle” but Feels Grateful to Keep Moving

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“You’ve had this terrible, terrible, tragic year. You lost your husband, you’ve been dealing with that, and you’ve been looking for all different ways in which to feel and find support,” Poehler told her former “Parks and Recreation” co-star.

(Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

When asked how she was doing, Plaza, 41, replied: “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 okay, but it’s like a daily struggle, obviously.”

Finding Strength While Navigating Grief

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Poehler noted that Plaza’s dog Frankie had become a “therapy dog” for the actress, offering comfort through the grieving process. Plaza admitted that while she feels thankful to be functioning, she still grapples with the pain of loss every day.

“It’s like a daily struggle,” Plaza said, emphasizing the ongoing challenge of moving forward after Baena’s death by suicide on January 3 at age 47.

Comparing Grief to a Film Metaphor

Plaza offered a unique analogy for her grief, drawing from the 2025 film “The Gorge,” which stars Miles Teller & Anya Taylor-Joy.

“This is a really dumb analogy, and it was kind of a joke at a certain point, but I actually mean it,” she told Poehler. “In the movie, there’s like a cliff on one side and there’s a cliff on the other side, then there’s gorge in between and it’s filled with all these like 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.”

Plaza continued, “At all times, there’s like a giant ocean of awfulness, that’s like 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.”

Remembering Jeff Baena

Plaza and Baena began dating in 2011 and kept their relationship relatively private until 2021, when she referred to him as her “darling husband” in an Instagram post. Her rep later confirmed the two had quietly married.

Following Baena’s death, Plaza and his family released a statement calling his passing an “unimaginable tragedy.” The family added, “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”

Plaza is finding ways to honor her grief while continuing to create. With her new film “Honey Don’t!” arriving in U.S. theaters on August 22, 2025, and the animated comedy “Animal Friends” slated for May 2026, Plaza is channeling her energy into work.

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