Aubrey Plaza appears on SNL’s 50th anniversary celebration

US actress Aubrey Plaza introduced a musical guest on the 50th anniversary celebration of Saturday Night Live (SNL) in one of her first public appearances since the death of her husband Jeff Baena in January.

Baena died on January 3 at the age of 47, with the Los Angeles County medical examiner concluding he took his own life.

A statement from Plaza and the Baena/Stern family given to the PA news agency at the time described his death as “an unimaginable tragedy”.

Plaza, who previously hosted SNL in 2023, appeared on Sunday’s three-hour anniversary special to introduce musical guests Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard, who performed a cover of Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U.

Baena worked with Plaza, 40, on 2014 horror film Life After Beth and 2017 historical comedy The Little Hours.

They had been in a relationship since about 2011 and married a decade later.

Baena wrote 2020 thriller Horse Girl, starring Alison Brie, and 2022 dark comedy Spin Me Round, both of which he also directed, as well as 2004 comedy I Heart Huckabees starring Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman and Mark Wahlberg.

He also created the anthology comedy series Cinema Toast, which had an episode directed by Plaza and another starring Community actress Brie.

The SNL special celebrated 50 years of the hit US sketch show, which began in 1975.

A wealth of former cast members and celebrities were in attendance for the show, including Steve Martin, John Mulaney, Amy Poehler, Scarlett Johansson and Jack Nicholson.

Ryan Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively were also shown on-screen, amid the couple’s legal battle with Lively’s It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni.

Singers Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter opened the show with a duet of Simon and George Harrison’s 1990 hit Homeward Bound, while Sir Paul McCartney closed the show with a medley of songs from The Beatles’ Abbey Road album.

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