"He didnt know Pope Francis, he wasnt his personal doctor.". On what was supposed to be the day of her wedding, Alexander flew to Rome, where she eventually met others who'd kept their travel plans. "I was angry as hell. As a journalist, Alexander knew she couldn't get involved with the subject of her story. [00:36:07] Matthew Christopher: Confident, rico-suave, I am Paolo, ha-ha, and I'm like, okay, you know, I'm like am I nervous? Which sounds a bit absurd, however, he is an Italian surgeon. He was listed as one of . And that presence was really something, it was really something. Corbascio called the decision "absolutely insane.". What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. to search for ways to make a difference in your community at He was kind of a rebel. In her personal life, she's also looking for a medical miracle, a miracle that, well it wasn't going to come. She is currently the voice of the true crime series "Still A Mystery" on Investigation Discovery, and she has narrated four seasons of this ongoing, multi part show. Benita Alexander, and swept her off her feet with a marriage proposal and promises of a wedding . "That's when he told me that there was this kind of clandestine network [of doctors] who are on call, basically, for these people.'". So this is a lot of very heady information to take in, and he basically tells me that because hes the Popes private, personal doctor, um, and because this is such a progressive Pope, who has such a forward-thinking agenda, that the Pope a) wants to thank him for all the work hes done at the Vatican and for being his private doctor, and b) wants to use us for lack of a better term, as kind of a poster couple, so that by marrying two divorcees, you know, the Pope is going to use us to sort of open the doors of the Catholic church to allow divorcees to finally get married in a Catholic church. I want him to look around that courtroom and see the families of the patients whose lives he destroyed, and see my face and at last be forced for whatever few seconds to look us all in the eye and maybe understand what he did," Alexander said. Lindquist said the documentary sparked outrage in Sweden, and weeks later, new investigations into Macchiarini began. Star Benita Alexander-Noel See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 12 User reviews Photos Add photo "Then he said he had connections to the Vatican. In October, 2020, her story was the premiere episode of ABC's primetime series, "The Con," hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. But despite his seemingly busy schedule, Alexander said Macchiarini offered to plan their wedding. Spouse John Noel, Edson Jeune, Macchiarini, Source of Wealth Acting and Producing career. It was kind of romance on steroids. You know he loves to surprise you. It was beyond Benita's wildest dreams - Macchiarini reportedly told her he invited Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Elton John, and that the Pope himself would oversee the ceremony. "Paolo was a really good listener," Alexander said. [00:31:04] Matthew Christopher: I'm a couture wedding gown designer. [00:25:58] Bo Lindquist: I think he liked the challenge. Meanwhile, the investigation into Macchiarini's professional life was ramping up -- the Karolinska Institute was investigating whether he'd fabricated aspects of his medical research. [00:34:26] Matthew Christopher: You put your, I am going to make the most gorgeous dress you've ever seen. "As furious as it makes me what he did [to me and] my daughter, the thought that this is a man who has people's lives in his hands. Macchiarini proposed to Benita Alexander on Christmas Day 2013, Alexander said. [00:04:22] Bob: And you had a happy ending. 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. But then I, and this was October of 2014, and I went and googled, the first thing I did was I went to my desk and googled, literally googled, Does the Pope marry people? And what popped up was an article from a month earlier where the Pope had just married 20 couples in the Vatican. And I just thought, okay, you've got some stupid little schoolgirl crush on this doctor, which is absurd. Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. And she was Daddy's Little Girl. And he's getting noticed in the medical field. He was dying and Macchiarini became someone Alexander could lean on. [00:34:42] Matthew Christopher: We were going to meet later, so we just discussed the idea and it started with the wedding gown itself, and then had dinner at her house, and made dinner, and it was fun, and we were discussing things and how all these pieces were going to grow. [00:35:38] Bob: I mean it sounds like that could cost an infinity if you wanted it to. In 2019, she produced the Oxygen doc Seduced By Evil, which chronicles another con-man, Derek Alldred. He soon proposed, only for her to realize her fianc was a complete liar around a year later. ET. "The outcry was such that the Karolinska Institute had to do something," said Ritchie. View this post on Instagram I want to focus on work. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. He, he was supposed to be their last hope. The article's author, journalist Adam Ciralsky, had also uncovered fabrications in Macchiarini's professional life, and he documented a number of examples of Macchiarini misrepresenting his medical training and work history. That hideous under eye makeup , the obvious heavy Botox , that absurd VERY heavy makeup AND that over-dyed silly black hair says it all. But at this point, they're just questions. On the back of his motorcycle, he drove her along the Illinois River until they found a place where she could memorialize her ex-husband. I mean we were there to speak about science, so I thought, okay. He's Catholic. And when we went to Boston to interview Dr. Macchiarini, when he came in, it was um, I was with a colleague, and he, he came into this bar where we had arranged to have a coffee with him just to say hello the night before the interview, and you know there's, he's a very charming, good-looking man. I had tried, at one point I pushed him away, and we didn't see each other for about three months. Therefore, when Benita met the charming Paolo Macchiarini in the spring of 2013, thanks to NBCs A Leap of Faith, and he swept her off her feet, she crossed the professional line to start a romance with him. Just like, oh, the dance dress was crazy. Eventually, she died. Not, not that kind of just instant, immediate spark. He responded wow,'" Benita claimed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. And he actually said his barber in uh the south of Russia, he, he managed to find this excellent, excellent barber in Kazan there where he performed his Russian experiments, brilliant guy. While still trying to care for Cetir, Corbascio said his team found that Macchiarini had exaggerated the effectiveness of his surgeries and falsified data to make the surgeries seem more successful than they were. And after he left, I said to my parents, that's what I'm going to do when I grow up. After doing some digging, it transpired that Macchiarini was not the medical genius she thought he was. Since her romance with Paolo imploded in 2015, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and docuseries. However, while filming with Macchiarini, Alexander's ex-husband, the father of her young daughter, had been diagnosed with brain cancer. "That wasn't true. It defeats the point, Benita recently said. In a 500-page complaint filed in 2014 that detailed their allegations, the doctors accused Macchiarini of promoting a medical procedure that showed few signs of success while endangering the lives of his patients. I was so career-driven, and so career-oriented, but I was madly in love. You know he; he was sort of like Mr. I was blissfully happy. And then every month there was a new surprise. And we first met in early 2013. ", "As devastated as I was and as much as I wanted to crawl under the covers and hide and stay there, I knew I couldn't fall apart," she said. She said one question was heavy on her mind: "Why did you do this to me, why would you do that to anybody? And one of those really, really tight embraces. ABCs The Con is a true-crime documentary series that unveils the curtain on the people behind some of the most atrocious scams in recent times. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Anyone that knows anything about private schools in New York knows how hard that is. Then, just before New Year's Eve, he left the U.S., telling Alexander that he had a "really important surgery" to perform. But Bo at the time had no idea who it was. Journalist Benita Alexander is swept off her feet by a dashing Italian doctor, Paolo Macchiarini, while filming a documentary about his miraculous surgeries. [00:24:37] Bob: Paolo is a natural subject for a documentary film. En Espanol Paolo showers Benita with affection. You are no longer 21 !!! You know the, the invitations talked about needing a password, a secret password to get into the wedding, and you couldn't get in unless you had the invitation with you. After sweeping Alexander off her feet by taking her to jet-setting and romantic locales all over the world for months, Macchiarini proposed. And spent months, you know, this did not happen overnight. He was speaking at a conference in Boston, and we went there to interview him, sort of ahead of Hannah coming to the US, about his work and about Hannah. I didn't know what to think. Together, they'd spend long weekends traveling to different countries, like Mexico, Russia and Greece. Cetir died waiting for the lung transplant she desperately needed. [00:24:45] Bo Lindquist: I mean he basically said that he was going to revolutionize medicine, and, and not just invent a new kind of a trachea or a new kind of transplant, but actually revolutionize surgery. The two-part special He Lied About Everything premieres on ID on Wednesday, Feb. 14 from 8 to 10 p.m. Benita Alexander is an American television producer, director, writer, and reporter. The doctors also raised the issue that Macchiarini had reported on a patient in a way that suggested the patient was still alive, even though they had died before the paper was published. TV producer's romance with star surgeon begins against better judgment: Part 1Benita Alexander met Paolo Macchiarini while covering his pioneering work for a. I just, I felt like somebody punched me in the stomach. A love story gone bad for Benita Alexander, an award-winning documentary television producer and Paolo Macchiarini, an internationally renowned surgeon. That was insane. [00:24:20] Bo Lindquist: When we made our initial agreement to, to start filming, he said that his uh, personal life would be out of bounds, and I mean a bit odd that, that we couldn't even talk about where he went to school or, or something like that, but why should we? That makes me crazy. In fact, we both worked for NBC in New York at the same time, but we didn't know each other then. Ole Petter Ottersen, president of the Karolinska Institute since 2017, told ABC News in a request for comment on Macchiarini, "It is obvious that KI's initial handling of this case was insufficient and inadequate on several points. But unfortunately, her personal life has been marred by a turbulent childhood in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and a series of unsuccessful relationships. And so we were looking into this field, and we found this doctor. Benita Alexander-Noel was born on April 21, 1966 in Australia. He worked at the place that awards the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden. It's a very aggressive form of brain cancer. He was, he was just there when I needed somebody. [00:12:41] Bob: And you went forward with that weekend pushing the feeling aside, right? The Love Con: Directed by Star Price. [00:23:10] Bo Lindquist: The first time was in Stockholm at the Karolinska Institute. Moreover, the Italian investigator found records showing that despite planning a wedding with Alexander for so long, Macchiarini was still legally married. ", Alexander, who waited in the car, said that the last time she saw Macchiarini, he had turned around and walked back up the stairs. My daughter who, you know, has been through a lot. And then in radio, producing a radio talk show, and then in local television. Documentary producer Benita Alexander thought it was love when her job introduced her to internationally renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. (Pasadena, Calif.) - This Valentine's Day, Investigation Discovery (ID) presents a love story gone wrong with HE LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING, the astonishing true tale of the love affair between award-winning investigative news producer Benita Alexander, and the brilliant, world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.What started as a picture-perfect dream relationship between two people at the . Benita Alexander-Jeune started her career as a journalist for a few minor television stations. Um, maybe I felt like that at some point when I was really young and I had a, had a crush in school, I don't know, but I don't, I don't ever remember feeling like that. And that's where we met for the first time. And [00:14:24] Bob: It feels natural for Benita to share the family struggle with this world famous surgeon, a man who had spent his career cheating death, or trying anyway. Megan Hilty on the Tony's, like she got best dress, or Debra Messing, or you know, Carli Lloyd, like the whole soccer team coming in, I'm dressing Carli Lloyd for all these, for the ESPYs, and, you know, all these amazing people that I've dressed over the years, even the Oscars and I'm, I mean it's going wow, I made it to where I love what I do. So it was scary. And I was ready to ride off into the sunset, into this new life in Barcelona, and but it was also a very, very difficult decision for me. But this magic carpet ride takes so many twists and turns that well, you just have to hear them for yourself. But everything else, I'm planning everything, and you can't ask me any questions." The couple shares a daughter named Jessina, born in 2003. With the preparations nearly finished, Benita decides to take maybe the toughest step she's ever taken in her 20-year career as a journalist. You know, no, how do we take viewers through a two-hour journey of this little girl coming, you know, halfway across the world to get this radical surgery, and then she doesn't make it? What is happening? [00:01:28] Benita: I grew up in Australia, and I had an uncle, my mother's brother, who worked for Radio Free Europe. [00:10:23] Benita: Yeah, the thing about this was, I am, and I'm, I'm very serious when I work. [00:12:11] Benita: Not like that, you know, this was, this was one of those almost cliche movie moments where, you know, I don't even believe in love at first sight, but there was some sort of thing, something happened. Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360. Macchiarini and Benita quickly started planning an extravagant wedding, she said. receive communications related to AARP volunteering. And as they ride the motorcycle away from the river, the magic carpet ride takes off. She works in Rockefeller Center and flies all around the world, and on one of these trip, she meets the man of her dreams. He's also had his artificial trachea removed. And that was the moment I just thought, oh, I'm, I'm falling for this man, you know, and I just, I just sort of melted into his arms. Benita Alexander attended Wayne State University, where she studied journalism. Alexander, an award-winning documentary TV producer, met Macchiarini in 2013 while working on a story about the surgeon's pioneering work transplanting synthetic tracheas, or windpipes. We had 300+ people coming from all over the world. Macchiarini did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News. [00:19:01] Bob: It's just making it harder for every man in the world. [00:40:15] Bob: With that dramatic entrance comes a dramatic exit too. Six years later, in 2009, they filed for divorce. Before their wedding, the couple visited Italy, where Alexander asked Macchiarini to show her where their wedding celebrations would take place. And I was raised Episcopalian, but I said, "I know, I know enough about the Catholic religion to know that no priest is going to marry two divorcees," and he, he, you know, he said, "Don't worry. I want, I just want to get the job done. Alexander, an award-winning documentary TV producer, met Macchiarini in 2013 while working on a story about the surgeon's pioneering work transplanting synthetic tracheas, or windpipes. And these were all couples that were quote-unquote living in sin, you know, they had children out of wedlock, or whatever. [00:30:34] Bob: Now your wedding is a cause. Benita Alexander grew up like a regular American kid. The couple had the wedding planned for July 2015. And this is something very clandestine and secretive and he cant talk about, but hes been doing this for many years, and he is a celebrity surgeon to a number of famous people and celebrities, but that he cant talk about this because hes tied to people who want a private doctor who will attend to them but, you know, they have these private doctors, because they don't want anyone to know, you know, whats going on in their private life. Nothing anybody could do for her, and then like so many of Dr. Paolo Macchiarini's patients, they did a google search and found this kind of a magician of a surgeon who said I can help your little girl. Well actually, dresses. "He and I started going to dinners and I was kind of pouring my heart out to him about all this stuff. Alexander said she never thought she'd be part of Macchiarini's life, particularly because he was a subject in her work. And it's Paolo who helps Benita figure out the best way to say goodbye. Paolo Macchiarini was born in Switzerland to Italian parents and has spoken of having had a difficult childhood in Basel, where by his own account he felt like a perpetual outsider in school. Copyright 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. Read More: Where Is Paolo Macchiarini Now? Best Known For For her appearance in ID Now (2017), Dateline NBC (1992) and Inside the Obama White House (2009). The first meeting between Benita Alexander, an award-winning producer for NBC News, and Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, the famous transplant surgeon, took place at the bar at Bostons Mandarin Oriental hotel. I was just kind of like, um, 'cause Benita's so awesome and like, you know she was totally in love with him. Then, two years later, her father, whod married a neighbor, asked her to pack up her bags and leave for good. Free online workshop! In fact, he told me that Paolo would often leave their interview to engage in some frantic texting with someone, probably a lover, probably Benita. [00:38:37] Bob: But even without asking any questions, one thing is clear, this wedding is going to be big. "The woman in Barcelona was not his wife. There's so much she couldn't do, but she had this sparkling personality. He has peoples lives in his hands.. The self-proclaimed love con expert is essentially currently utilizing her platform to expose various cases and empower brave women to not be shamed into silence, as per her Instagram. again. How to tell her, how to get her through this, and how is life going to change for her, and what does this mean for me? A new two-hour "20/20" reports on Benita Alexander, a television producer who fell head over heels in love with world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini while producing a report on his revolutionary new surgery technique. I was there for about 20 minutes, and I, I tossed these flowers into the water, and I was, you know, very emotional in saying goodbye to John. [00:25:56] Bob: How did he take to being questioned? "I have some really high-powered clients," she said he told her. I'm, you know, I like, I like information. The way he used stem cells with his plastic tracheas would eventually develop into something quite extraordinary where you could use stem cells to target organs or other areas of the body where the, where there was a medical problem. The Perfect ScamSMis a project of theAARP Fraud Watch Network, which equips consumers like you with the knowledge to give you power over scams. I'm never viewed like that, but I was definitely like, huh? She later tied the knot with a ballroom instructor Edson Jeune in 2012, yet even that didnt work out. It hired Bengt Gerdin, a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, who spent six months examining some of Macchiarini's papers for evidence of research misconduct and in May 2015 determined that he was guilty, writing in his report that Macchiarini had made false claims about his patients' conditions improving, failed to report severe complications in some patients and made it seem as if some patients had been healthier for longer than they'd actually been following their surgeries. I mean I, I loved NBC. Star-Studded Wedding Becomes Brides Worst Nightmare, Part 1, Journalist exposes her celebrity fianc, part 2, Computer hacker drains couple's life savings. But before the wedding can happen, Benita makes a discovery that may prove the doctor is not all he claims to be. This was holy cow. I truly was for a period there, happier than I think I've ever been. I think he needs to be behind bars. [00:02:54] Bob: Benita focused on emotional stories, many involving children in tragic circumstances. Benita Alexander thought she had found her modern day Prince Charming. (chuckle). Who lost her dad. We were sitting together on the, on the plane, and I just sort of started pouring my heart out to him, and he was a very good friend. He never did that with me, but I, I've, I have seen him really being quite, quite unpleasant with um, PhDs and people who were sort of subordinate. All of this was happening around the same time that Alexander was preparing to share her own story publicly for the first time in a Vanity Fair article. Their guest list, Alexander said, included Elton John, the Beckhams, the Obamas, the Clintons and Russell Crowe. [00:09:18] Benita: Yeah, so we, we started focusing our story around Hannah and her family, and Hannah was actually, she was going to be the youngest person in the world to ever get one of his experimental transplants; the first toddler, and also the first patient to be operated on in the United States. And he, so his reputation sort of proceeds him, but when he walked in to where we were sitting that day, he, when he walked in, he looked right at me, and our eyes met, and I've never in my life had something like this happen to me before, but I, I felt like a silly, little schoolgirl. [00:23:14] Bo Lindquist: And then we traveled to different places. 5. Benita was pursuing a big story when the ill-fated lovers met in 2013. The slip from "Prince Charming to pathological liar" took place over just two years, she said. Thank you to our team of scambusters; Executive Producer, Julie Getz; Researcher, Haley Nelson; Associate Producer, Annalea Embree; and of course, our Audio Engineer, Julio Gonzalez. Her colleague had sent an article that said the pope would not be in Rome, or even Italy, on the day of their wedding. "He was a good listener and gave me sage and solid advice.". And we got involved and started doing the story, and it got very intense. I mean most 8-year-olds will change their minds, you know, many times, but I never changed.

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