Aubrey Plaza made her first public appearance since the death of her husband, Jeff Baena, at SNL50. In a blazer and tie-dye shirt, she introduced Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard, who then performed “Nothing Compares 2 U” in tribute to both Prince and Sinéad O’Connor. Pretty quickly, the internet figured out why Plaza was tie-dyed. On The Drew Barrymore Show, Plaza explained that she and Baena got married in tie-dye jammies. “Jeff got really into tie-dyeing during the quarantine, so I decided that Jeff and I were going to wear tie-dye pajamas that he had made for us,” she told Barrymore in 2021.
Baena died by suicide on January 3. Days later, Plaza and Baena’s family released a joint statement, saying, “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.” Plaza was scheduled to present at the Golden Globe Awards on January 5, but that did not happen. Plaza has a personal connection to Saturday Night Live, interning at the show for the 2004–05 season, as well as in the NBC page program the following year. She redonned her page uniform when she hosted the show in 2023. Plaza was not the only one showing up for Lorne Michaels on Sunday night. Jack Nicholson made his first public appearance since 2023, introducing Adam Sandler.
If you or anyone you know are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.