Michelle Trachtenberg left behind a whole lot of loving family, friends, and family… But also a pretty private relationship with a longtime boyfriend.
As the world continues to come to grips with the tragic and untimely passing of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star, there’s someone everyone is forgetting. It certainly wasn’t one of the world’s most followed relationships, but the 39-year-old was happily with a man named Jay Cohen… And had been for years before her passing.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michelle signed with The Gersh Agency back in 2014, where Jay is a partner and the head of film finance and distribution. Several years into her professional relationship with the company, the two began a romantic one.
In 2020, Us Weekly first reported the Ice Princess star was dating Jay — and already had been “for over a year”! A source confirmed to the outlet that Michelle was a client of Jay’s, and things seemingly were going really well for them. In 2020, she sparked engagement rumors by posing in a black-and-white selfie on Instagram sporting a massive diamond ring. She captioned the post:
“I picked the right one”
It’s not clear if they really were engaged, though, as she responded to a fan in the comments claiming it was an “April fools” post.
Related: Sarah Michelle Gellar Pays Tribute To Michelle With Buffy Quote After Her Death
A year later, Jay was the first one to make their relationship IG official, sharing a selfie with the Gossip Girl alum on the 4th of July. He wrote:
“#fireworks are every day with this one !!”
So sweet.
Michelle would sometimes post relationship pics, including once on Valentine’s Day in 2023, but very sparingly. See (below):
For the same occasion, Jay shared the following photo:
Ugh, our hearts are broken for him. Most recently, Michelle shared a photo with Jay for Valentine’s Day 2025 — less than two weeks before her death. It was a throwback pic from her real fave holiday, though, as they both appear in spooky Halloween makeup. She wrote:
“Happy Valentine’s Day to the man who sits still long enough for me to paint his face.”
They were so adorable together.
Aside from his role at The Gersh Agency, Jay has also worked as a producer on films like Bride Wars, Mad Money, Two for the Money, and more. He also shares two adult daughters from a previous relationship.
If you were wondering, yes, there was a pretty significant age gap between the two. Jay is reportedly 63 years old. But clearly what they had really worked.
He has not yet released a public statement on Michelle’s passing. Our heart goes out to him.
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