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Aubrey Plaza The Ellen DeGeneres Show© Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

Aubrey Plaza dresses as hilarious Christmas Witch on Ellen DeGeneres Show

The actress attended the show to promote her new book and discuss her impromptu wedding.


Maria Loreto
Senior Writer
DECEMBER 15, 2021 2:16 PM EST

Aubrey Plaza was one of the latest guests to attend The Ellen DeGeneres Show, scheduled to end on May of next year after 19 seasons on air. Aubrey showed up dressed as a Christmas Witch, a character she invented, and shared some of her strange Christmas traditions.

Aubrey Plaza The Ellen DeGeneres Show© Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.
Aubrey attended the show dressed as the main character from her new book.

Aubrey showed up to Ellen’s show wearing a red coat, a black cape and a witch hat, claiming to be the Christmas Witch, a character she wrote a kids’ book about. “It seems like you’re taking on the character of the Christmas Witch,” Ellen said as Aubrey was sitting down in front of her. “This is your first book. Is this legend something you found out about?”

“It came to me in a dream,” Aubrey said dramatically. “I was sleeping one night and had a mild hallucination. A witch with a feathered cape whispered in my ear: ‘Tell my story,’” which Ellen just nodded at.

Aubrey Plaza Ellen DeGeneres© Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.
Aubrey talked about her impromptu wedding to her Jeff Baena, her partner of 10 years.

While Aubrey made a lot of jokes, she explained that she wrote the story because she loves witches and Halloween, and thought kids would love it if that tradition were extended to Christmas. “I scare the children, they love it. One year, I decided, ‘You know what? I’m gonna do it for Christmas,’” she said. “I had this idea of dressing up like a witch and going to scare children while also throwing presents at them.”

“That’s confusing to children,” Ellen said. Aubrey explained that she hid in the bushes, popped out to scare children, and then threw presents at them, which they apparently loved. “They were so confused but they liked it and they wanted more,” Aubrey said.

Sneak Peek: Aubrey Plaza's Impromptu Backyard Wedding

Aubrey also talked about her husband, Jeff Baena, whom she married over the pandemic. She said that when they were celebrating their 10th anniversary, she thought about doing something special. “We should do something. Get an ice cream cone or do something special,” she said. She then came up with the idea to get married, and found a website called One Hour Marriage, which promised to marry people within the hour.

“We didn’t tell anybody we were doing it,” Aubrey said. When the officiant arrived, wearing a Hawaian shirt, Aubrey and Jeff were married in their backyard. “I’m pretty sure it’s legal,” she said.