Michelle Trachtenberg was found dead in her New York apartment by her mom on February 26, 2025.

Here we get to know the Gossip Girl and Buffy star‘s boyfriend Jay Cohen.

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Michelle Trachtenberg is understood to have endured a secret health battle in the months before she was found dead, which included her having a liver transplant operation.

The medical procedure took place towards the end of 2024, and Michelle is believed to have been experiencing complications from it.

Citing law enforcement sources, TMZ reported that her body may have even rejected the new liver.

Cops confirmed that Michelle’s mom found her dead in her apartment near Columbus Circle in Manhattan after 8 am on Wednesday, February 26, 2025.

No foul play is suspected, but police said her cause of death is still unclear as of February 27.

Michelle’s boyfriend Jay Cohen told DailyMail the family “will not be commenting on the tragedy”.

The remark was his first following her passing.

Who is Jay Cohen?

Jay Cohen is the longtime partner of the late actress Michelle Trachtenberg.

The 63-year-old is a partner and the head of finance and distribution at the Gersh Agency — one of Hollywood‘s oldest talent agencies, which represents actors, writers and directors.

Prior to his entertainment career, Jay was a Wall Street investment banker.

He later moved to LA, launching film production company Cosmic Entertainment with Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson.

Jay’s credits as a movie producer include Swimming With Sharks (1994), Two For The Money (2005) and Bride Wars (2009).

Relationship timeline

Michelle and Jay were first publicly linked by Us Weekly in 2020, with the outlet revealing they were dating.

But she signed with the Gersh Agency in 2014, with an insider saying at the time that the couple had already been “dating for over a year”, per MailOnline.

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Michelle playfully fueled engagement rumors in 2020 by posting a diamond ring photo on Instagram along with the caption “I picked the right one”.

But she later clarified that it was a voting public service announcement in support of Joe Biden for the 2020 presidential election.

Kids

While nothing has been reported about Jay and Michelle having children together, he does have two daughters from a previous relationship.

Their names are Lili and Rachel, whom Jay regularly mentions on social media.

In November 2023, Jay posted pictures of Lili’s wedding day along with the caption: “My youngest Lili and Lyndsay now married.

“I gained a new beautiful sweet loving daughter in my family.”