“It’s a daily struggle”: Aubrey Plaza reveals how she’s coping with grief after her husband’s sudden death

Months after her husband's passing, Aubrey Plaza recently opened up about how she's coping with the loss. For context, on February 3, writer-director Jeff Baena was found dead in his home in the Los-Angeles area by his dog walker. Upon arriving at his house, the dog walker heard "unusual" loud music playing and discovered his body. The police and fire departments were called at 10:30 a.m. and pronounced him dead at the scene, per E! News.

Six months after Jeff's death, Plaza appeared on the August 19 episode of the Good Hang with Amy Pohler podcast. During the episode, host Amy Pohler pointed to Plaza's dog, whom she brought along, and described it as a "therapy dog," especially in light of everything Aubrey has been through.

Pohler asked the White Lotus star how she's been coping with the loss.

"Just to get it out the way, people want to see you and want to see how you are, they love you. 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," Amy questioned.

In response, Aubrey stated:

"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."

Aubrey further compared grief to the 2025 movie The George, starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.

"In the movie, there's 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 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."

She explained that grief sometimes feels like a "giant ocean" full of awfulness that's always close by and visible to her. At times, she wants to dive into the ocean and stay in it; other times, she simply looks at it, and sometimes she tries to get away from it.

"But, it's always there," she added.

Aubrey Plaza and her husband separated months before his passing

Jeff Baena, writer and director who was married to Aubrey Plaza, has died by suicide, @TMZ reports. He was 47. pic.twitter.com/JNyLzYe76t

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 4, 2025

According to a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner obtained by People Magazine, Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena were separated in September 2024 before he passed away from suicide. The report revealed that in October 2024, Jeff made "concerning remarks" to Plaza that "prompted her to call a friend to perform a welfare check on her husband."

After the welfare check, Jeff, who was 47, began therapy and was reportedly "experiencing recent marital difficulties" with Plaza. She also received a text from her husband three hours before he passed away.

Meanwhile, following his death, his family and Plaza released a joint statement to the outlet, calling his death an "unimaginable tragedy."

"We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time."

Aubrey Plaza and Jeff Baena began dating in 2011 and got married in May 2021. They did not have any children.