Aubrey Plaza is entering a new chapter in her life, and the internet once again played judge and jury.
The 41-year-old actress and her partner, Chris Abbott, had some exciting baby news to share.
But the internet had thoughts about the timing, claiming it was too soon after the tragic passing of her late husband, Jeff Baena, who took his own life last year.
Aubrey Plaza is entering a new chapter in her life, and the internet once again played judge and jury
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Trigger warning: this article contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
Aubrey Plaza is pregnant and expecting her first child with her 40-year-old partner, Chris Abbott.
Sources revealed the couple is gearing up to welcome their little one this fall.
“It was a beautiful surprise after an emotional year,” the source told People.
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Plaza and Abbott “feel very blessed,” the source added about the expecting parents.
The pair quietly became friends while working on different projects over the years. They first worked together in 2019, playing both actors and directors, shooting a film in an isolated lake house for the psychological drama Black Bear.
In 2023, they shared the stage in the Off-Broadway revival of John Patrick Shanley’s play Danny And The Deep Blue Sea.
“It’s fun and it’s also good and it’s also safe,” Plaza previously told the New York Times, while Abbott added, “We’re both unafraid to be ugly and weird and strange.”
Plaza and Abbott “feel very blessed” to welcome a baby after “an emotional year”
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Plaza dealt with the loss of her late husband, Jeff Baena, last year. They began dating in 2011 and tied the knot in 2021.
The screenwriter and film director took his own life on January 3, 2025, at the age of 47.
It is believed he and the Parks and Recreation alum had been separated for months before his untimely passing.
Jeff Baena had a phone call with Plaza the day before a dog walker found him lifeless at home
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Baena had texted his estranged wife about three hours before his body was found in a Los Angeles-area home.
Plaza, who had moved to New York after their split, told investigators that he “made concerning remarks” a month after their September 2024 breakup. She asked a friend to perform a welfare check on him at the time.
Investigators also found that Baena and Plaza spoke over the phone the night before his passing.
The next day, a dog walker arrived as scheduled and heard loud music coming from his residence, which was unusual. She then entered the house and stumbled upon his body, leading to a 911 call.
Fans congratulated Plaza on the pregnancy news, but critics gave the side-eye
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Following the news of Plaza’s pregnancy, fans congratulated her as she entered motherhood.
Others chose to be snarky and claimed it was “disgusting” that she was having a baby with another man a year after Baena’s passing.
“Didnt her husband JUST pass away,” one asked, while another quipped, “people are moving on quick af bro.”
“That didnt take long,” said another.
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“That was fast,” one said. “I guess people get over things super fast .. especially a de*d husband.”
Another wrote, “They move on like the wind blows. Hell they move like the wind before you are out of their sight lol.”
“Yes, she [is supposed] to respect the memory of her late husband,” one said.
“I’d expect that she should be sad for a period at least a little longer than necessary to get with someone else and decide to have a baby with them,” another wrote.
“Man, it takes me a year just to know if i love the person I’m with at this age,” one person commented online
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On the other hand, fans pointed out that “everyone grieves differently” and asked, “Is she supposed to be sad for life? Good for her for moving on.”
“Is she supposed to stay unhappy for the rest of her life? When do [sic] being happy and moving forward a crime?” one said.
“What is she supposed to do, wait around and be sad until everyone gives her the ok?” asked another.
“Full stop! No one knows what was actually happening in their lives. Stop speculating,” said another. “This is insane for anyone to comment on this.”
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Plaza spoke about her grief during a chat with Amy Poehler for the Good Hang podcast last year.
“Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you,” Plaza said after being asked how she was doing in the midst of a “terrible, tragic year.”
“Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world,” she added. “I think I’m OK, but it’s like a daily struggle, obviously.”
The White Lotus star used what she called “a really dumb analogy” to explain her grief, comparing it to a shot from the sci-fi horror movie The Gorge.
Plaza previously spoke about how it’s been a “daily struggle” after Jeff Baena’s untimely passing
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“There’s a cliff on one side and a cliff on the other side and there’s a gorge in between and it’s filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them,” she explained. “I swear when I watched it, I was like, ‘That what this feels like, what my grief is like, or what grief could be like.’”
The actress said there were times when her grief felt like a “giant ocean of awfulness,” and she just wanted to “dive” and “be in it.” Other times, she just looked at it. And sometimes, she tried to run away from it.
“But it’s always there,” she added. “It’s just always there.”
“She was already cheating on him with this guy that’s probably why he did what he did,” netizens speculated following the baby news
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