Aubrey Plaza recently made a rare public appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, where she spoke candidly about the painful year she’s endured since the death of her husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena. Baena died by suicide in January, leaving Plaza to navigate a new chapter of life marked by loss.
Reflecting on her emotional state, Plaza admitted the journey has been far from easy. “Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning,” she told Poehler, who gently referred to the past year as “terrible, terrible, tragic.” Plaza added, “I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m okay, but it’s a daily struggle, obviously.”
Plaza and Baena had been together for a decade before marrying in 2021 in a small, unconventional ceremony where they wore homemade tie-dye outfits—an intimate nod to one of their shared pandemic hobbies. After his passing, Plaza paid tribute to him at the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special by wearing tie-dye once again.
To describe how she experiences grief, Plaza used a metaphor drawn from the 2025 film The Gorge, which stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy as soldiers guarding against monstrous creatures. “There’s a cliff on one side, a cliff on the other, and this pit in the middle full of monsters,” she explained. “That’s what grief feels like to me. At times I’m standing on the edge, looking at it. Sometimes I just want to dive in. And no matter what, it’s always there.”
Despite the pain, Plaza said she has leaned heavily on her circle of close friends, many of whom she’s known for years. Together, they formed a tight-knit group they jokingly call “Bombardo,” staying connected through trips, group chats, and late-night laughs. “They make me laugh harder than anyone,” Plaza said, crediting her friends with helping her find moments of joy amid the darkness.