A statement attributed to the actor and her late husband’s family shared with People magazine reads, “This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”
It comes after Baena was found dead by his assistant on January 3 at his Los Angeles home, according to TMZ.
Police and the local fire department arrived at the home around 10.30am to investigate a reported death, the outlet reported.
Jeff Baena, filmmaker and husband of White Lotus actress Aubrey Plaza, has died aged 47. Photo / Getty images
Baena was pronounced dead at the scene and authorities are treating his death as a suicide.
He has more than a dozen film and directing credits to his name, most famously horror comedy Life After Beth, starring Plaza, and The Little Hours. He and Plaza met and started dating in 2011.
The pair never publicly confirmed when they got engaged or married, but Plaza, who starred on the TV show Parks and Recreation, called him her “darling husband” in a social media post in 2021.
In a 2019 interview with People, Plaza said of their relationship, “I think that one of the great things about our careers is that we are forced to be independent, take little breaks, go off and do our things and come back.
“So it’s kind of fun. Nothing is ever the same. You don’t want to spend too much time apart. But I think that there’s a way that it can work and there’s a balance in that.”
Baena is survived by his mother Barbara Stern, stepfather Roger Stern, dad and stepmother Scott and Michele Baena, brother Brad Baena and step-siblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.
