Actress Aubrey Plaza is pregnant with her first child, expecting a baby this fall with actor Christopher Abbott, Page Six reported, citing a People magazine report. The news comes roughly a year after the death of Plaza's husband, screenwriter Jeff Baena, who died by suicide in January 2025 at age 47.
A source told People the pregnancy "was a beautiful surprise after an emotional year." The source added: "They feel very blessed."
Plaza, 41, and Abbott, 40, have not publicly confirmed the report. Page Six said it reached out to Plaza's representative for comment but did not immediately receive a response. No official statement from either actor has surfaced.
The pregnancy report arrives against a backdrop of personal loss that played out in painful public view. Baena, a screenwriter best known for his indie film work, died in January 2025. Online records from the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office, obtained by Page Six, confirmed his death was a suicide.
Plaza and Baena married in 2021. But the couple had separated roughly four months before his death, a detail that added another layer of grief to an already devastating loss.
For months, Plaza said nothing publicly. She broke her silence last August during an appearance on Amy Poehler's "Good Hang" podcast. Poehler, her former "Parks and Recreation" co-star, drew out some of Plaza's first public reflections on the ordeal. Plaza said she was "very grateful to be moving through the world" and described herself as "OK."
But her words carried the weight of someone still navigating deep grief. On the podcast, Plaza offered a more candid window into what she had been carrying:
"At all times, there's, like, a giant ocean of just awfulness that's just right there and I can see it. Sometimes I just want to dive into it and be in it. And sometimes I look at it and sometimes I just try to get away from it, but it's always there."
She also told Poehler directly:
"Right in this very very present moment, I feel happy to be with you. Overall, I'm here and I'm functioning."
Those remarks stood out for their honesty. In a celebrity culture that often trades in polished statements and publicist-approved grief, Plaza's willingness to describe the rawness of loss on her own terms drew quiet respect. In a world of media figures dealing with family crises in public, her restraint was notable.
Plaza and Abbott are no strangers to each other on screen. The two co-starred in the 2020 comedic thriller "Black Bear." They later reunited for the 2023, 2024 off-Broadway revival of "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea," a production that put them in close creative quarters over an extended run.
When exactly their professional relationship became romantic remains unclear. Neither has spoken publicly about the timeline of their personal involvement, and no reporting in the Page Six or People accounts pins down a specific date.
Abbott, known for his work in independent film and theater, has maintained a relatively low public profile compared to Plaza, whose breakout role as April Ludgate on "Parks and Recreation" made her a household name. Their shared commitment to smaller, character-driven projects gave them common ground long before any personal connection became public.
Celebrity personal lives often become tabloid fodder, and the entertainment world has seen no shortage of high-profile stories in recent months, from legal battles between Hollywood stars to family emergencies that play out under camera lights. Plaza's story is quieter but no less significant to those following it.
Several details remain unconfirmed. The People report places the baby's due date in the fall but gives no specific month. Neither Plaza nor Abbott has issued a public statement. The identity of the source who spoke to People is not disclosed.
Page Six noted that it contacted Plaza's representative but received no immediate reply. Whether the couple plans a formal announcement or prefers to keep the matter private is anyone's guess.
The lack of official confirmation means the story rests, for now, on People's reporting and the unnamed source's quotes. That is worth noting, not to cast doubt, but because in an age of instant celebrity news cycles, a single-source pregnancy report is not the same as a confirmed one. Readers can take the news for what it is: a credible report from a major entertainment outlet, awaiting the principals' own words.
Other celebrity family stories have drawn heavy attention this year, including Tori Spelling's hospitalization alongside four of her children after a car crash, a reminder that fame offers no shield from life's harder turns.
If the report holds, Plaza's pregnancy marks a significant turn after one of the most difficult stretches of her life. Losing a spouse to suicide, while separated, no less, is a grief that carries its own particular weight. That she appears to have found a measure of happiness with Abbott, a longtime collaborator, speaks to the resilience people can find even after devastating loss.
Plaza and Baena's marriage lasted from 2021 until his death in early 2025. Their separation four months prior meant the relationship had already fractured before the worst happened. None of that diminishes the loss. If anything, it complicates it in ways only those who have lived through something similar can fully understand.
Celebrity culture often reduces these stories to timelines and tabloid headers. But behind the reports are real people dealing with grief, new beginnings, and the messy overlap between the two. Figures across entertainment continue to navigate personal upheaval under public scrutiny, as recent custody disputes involving reality TV stars have shown in stark terms.
Plaza's own words from last August remain the most telling. She described grief as an ocean, always visible, sometimes consuming, sometimes held at arm's length. A baby on the way does not drain that ocean. But it does suggest that life, stubborn and unscripted, keeps moving forward whether the cameras are rolling or not.
Sometimes the best news arrives in the hardest seasons. If Plaza and Abbott are indeed expecting, they deserve the same thing any new parents do: a little grace and a lot of privacy.
