[00:01:54] Bob: Benita didn't start her career working for a larger network in New York. [00:39:38] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, I mean we were going through fittings, we were going through the process of um getting things together. I'm never viewed like that, but I was definitely like, huh? After she called Macchiarini, furious about what she'd read, she began to wonder what else he might have lied about. I have to tell you, and I'm like, you know, I'm a very boisterous, fun guy, that's, you know, and very um, slap-happy fun, and I literally stopped in my tracks, and was like, "Huh?" Firstly , on a personal observation , girl , you absolutely need a makeover. She finds that story in South Korea. I was torn up about it, and my last day at NBC was in May of 2015. 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. He, he had sort of slowly moved his way into my heart and I, I think I just really needed to be wrapped in love at the time, and I, yeah, we fell in love. En Espanol Best Known For For her appearance in ID Now (2017), Dateline NBC (1992) and Inside the Obama White House (2009). [00:03:01] Benita: Yeah, one of the ones um, there was a father in New Jersey, whose wife had abducted their son to Brazil, parental abduction, which is when one parent takes the child, against the other parent's will to another country. How do we, how do we tell this story? 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. "He said he was having trouble finding a priest to marry us," she said. In 2015, she served as a co-executive producer on Breaking the Silence, which featured DWTS pro Cheryl Burke, and Counting On alums Jessa Seewald and Jill Duggar Dillard. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. This was worldwide. "Paolo was a really good listener," Alexander said. [00:23:07] Bob: The first time you met him was where? As a producer, for me that was next to impossible. 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. [00:18:02] Benita: Oh, there was so many. [00:02:31] Benita: Yeah, right! And, and, and embraced me and held me so hard. [00:30:34] Bob: Now your wedding is a cause. But everything else, I'm planning everything, and you can't ask me any questions.". He soon proposed, only for her to realize her fianc was a complete liar around a year later. Kind of like being in a fairy tale, you know. Some even believed he'd win a Nobel Prize one day, according to author Stuart Ritchie. [00:32:14] Matthew Christopher: She actually came to my private showroom which was really cool, and um, I had my whole staff there, and we had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and I was like, what is going on here? Benita Alexander is an award-winning investigative television producer, showrunner, correspondent, director, writer and narrator who has worked on a wide variety of film and TV programs. He was put on trial after his patients reportedly suffered bodily harm during his experimental surgeries but he always denied any criminal wrongdoing. He wrote love notes in lipstick on her mirror and left roses on the bed in the shape of hearts. Which clearly would completely change the face of, of medicine and, you know, all these people that been told they have no hope or no chance, it, it would be, it would be a gamechanger, right. I, I had just, in that moment I didn't have the information yet, but I just knew he was lying about everything. NEW YORK Dr Paolo Macchiarini, He Lied About Everything with Benita Alexander Armchair MBA 18K subscribers Join Subscribe 1.5K Share Save 128K views 2 years ago I chat with Benita Alexander. He worked at the place that awards the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden. Cetir died waiting for the lung transplant she desperately needed. He seemed that way in his work as well, but here he is talking to me and spending all this time listening to me and seemed very vested in this little girl that he had never met. People could be dying because of this man, and therefore, I couldn't stay silent, I couldn't crawl under the covers. In 2020, she appeared on the ABC documentary series The Con to discuss her personal life and narrate what happened between her and Paolo Macchiarini. When she continued to press Macchiarini about the pope, she said he blamed Vatican politics, alleging that the more conservative former Pope Benedict went behind Pope Francis' back to stop him from officiating the wedding. She couldn't eat. It could go out the window. [00:21:08] Bob: Benita is proud of her work and happy with her husband-to-be, excited to put the finishing touches on Hannah's medical miracle story, but before the piece airs, the story takes a dark turn. The qualified journalist then began working at a string of local television stations. Um, (laugh) I was uh, in my 40s. [00:01:59] Benita: I had worked my way up from working in, from tiny little newspapers in Detroit, Michigan, which is where I went to college and where I'd, my family had moved after Australia. I want to focus on work. And he said, "Just tell me when you want to stop." It was an excellent place. [00:04:24] Benita: Right, yeah, and they're not always happy endings, and you do, you, unfortunately, you know, you report on a lot of very, very difficult things in news. In July 2015 their "cat and mouse game" came to an end when she revealed to him everything she found through the private investigation. She is an executive producer, narrator, writer and director known for her work in the true crime genre. [00:23:20] Bob: Bo also spent many months following Paolo around the world, getting to know him, getting Paolo to open up to him. Alexander said Macchiarini later called her, telling her he was at the Vatican and that he had some big news: Not only did he find someone willing to perform the ceremony but he said it was his own patient, the pope himself. And I was really wrestling with all of it. At the time, Macchiarini was employed by the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Journalist Benita Alexander is swept off her feet by a dashing Italian doctor, Paolo Macchiarini, while filming a documentary about his miraculous surgeries. Macchiarini took Alexander to several romantic getaways in Europe. That makes me crazy. [00:41:47] Bob: But not as scary as what happens next. And a very, very good listener and was giving me very wise, sage advice, you know, about all these questions; what to tell her, how to tell her, and I was sort of soaking it all up, and I was very touched by the fact that this man seemed so incredibly altruistic. Free online workshop! Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly [00:38:37] Bob: But even without asking any questions, one thing is clear, this wedding is going to be big. It was eight months later when they became properly engaged after Macchiarini presented her with a $100K ring. He was incredibly generous, you know, and so romantic and just so wonderful. Um, she was being brought to Illinois, the Children's Hospital of Illinois because a Korean nurse there had found Hannah in the hospital in Seoul and had sort of lobbied to bring her to the US. Yeah. This was, I didn't even know what to say. "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. 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. They become engaged and plan a lavish dream wedding, to be attended by celebrities and officiated by none other than Pope Francis himself. Which sounds a bit absurd, however, he is an Italian surgeon. And then um, (sigh) oh her sisters, the two bridesmaids, and then two flower girl dresses. "The outcry was such that the Karolinska Institute had to do something," said Ritchie. I love some pressure, let's go for it. Documentary Two-hour special that investigates the perfect engagement gone wrong between Emmy award-winning journalist, Benita Alexander, and the internationally acclaimed surgeon, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. We had been divorced for a couple of years at that point and for three years, and he was diagnosed with glioblastoma which is a very, there's no good kind of cancer, no good kind of brain cancer, but the, you know, the outlook is not good, you know they, they kind of give someone two years at the most. I still remember my first day walking in there too, especially with, with all the art, the art deco and everything. Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. Since her romance with Paolo imploded in 2015, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and docuseries'. [00:09:12] Bob: And so, Benita travels to Boston to meet the miracle worker for herself. Corbascio called the decision "absolutely insane.". Then, two years later, her father, whod married a neighbor, asked her to pack up her bags and leave for good. Benita Alexander attended Wayne State University, where she studied journalism. I loved my life at NBC. But everything else, I'm planning everything, and you can't ask me any questions." [00:23:14] Bo Lindquist: And then we traveled to different places. What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. 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. We need to be pointing the finger at the con man.. I mean it was crazy. This is a true you must see it to believe it tale, with so many twists and turns, it will leave viewers stunned, asking only how this could have actually happened, Schleiff says. Macchiarini and Benita quickly started planning an extravagant wedding, she said. And spent months, you know, this did not happen overnight. "The Experiments" told the stories of some of Maccharini's patients, including young mother Julia Tuulik, who damaged her trachea in a car accident. From what we can tell, Benita still resides in New York alongside her daughter, where shes primarily a freelance executive producer for Lion Television, all the while serving as a public figure. And it's presented to me by Paolo, it's not even about our wedding or about our love story. After a few days there, she traveled to Macchiarini's home in Barcelona, Spain, with some friends who came along for support. You could uh, train stem cells so that, and then inject them into the body and the stem cells would do the work, the surgery, not the knife. And I made it to this point. "From that moment on, it felt like my head was spinning," Alexander said, "and it didn't stop spinning.". Um, and so he had, we were coming back into the room after dinner one night, and I was kind of teasing him. They live in the same area outside Florence. I'm your host, Bob Sullivan. I was, I was conflicted about it. [00:39:49] Matthew Christopher: Um, so Paolo was going to have a place where he came out, after he did something with the Pope, and he said he's going to give her this ring, and there were going to be fireworks and blah, blah, blah, but he was going to be handed off to her in this dress, right, for a reception, and the dress was going to come out with this tulle overskirt, and it was going to ripped off by Paolo, and it was going to have a dance gown underneath, like Dancing with the Stars. I, I thought it was ridiculous. [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. They make it for you in the lab, right. Benita Alexander, an award-winning documentary television producer and single mother, shares her story in ABC's "The Con." ABC News At the time, Macchiarini was employed by the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Wake up to the real world! She was floored when he told her John Legend would sing at their wedding and Pope Francis would officiate. I don't want you to do anything except find your dresses and just, all you have to do is show up and look beautiful. But her death was awful. Alexander then married, Edson Jeune, a ballroom dancer. And, and then he would tell me the priest won't marry us, and this went on and on and on. Alexander is well-known for her career in production and film and was also in a relationship scam that made headlines and fueled her documentary, "He Lied About Everything." By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. And Hillary Clinton got involved, different people in Congress got involved, but ultimately, after many trips back and forth to Brazil and a lot of emotion, he got his son home. She hence became the executive producer of a documentary film entitled He Lied About Everything, which chronicled her emotional journey as well as his scientific lies. Benita Alexander is an American television producer, director, writer, and reporter. How does one design a wedding dress for a wedding [00:34:25] Matthew Christopher: With the Pope? He's also never spoken publicly about his relationship with Alexander. Hundreds of Benita Alexander's friends and family had already bought their plane tickets to Italy to attend her extravagant wedding that was supposed to be officiated by the pope when it all came crashing down in a flurry of her fianc's deception. [00:08:14] Benita: But we, we started looking into him, and then he was about to do a transplant on this beautiful, beautiful little toddler, um, her name was Hannah, from Seoul, South Korea. It said he'd be in South America and that the "trip had been planned for quite some time," Alexander said. Um, which is just something I never thought I would do, you know. Benita Alexander-Noel was born on April 21, 1966 in Australia. In early 1982, shortly before her 16th birthday, Benita returned home from a sleepover to discover that her mother had left the family in the middle of the night. She said one question was heavy on her mind: "Why did you do this to me, why would you do that to anybody? What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. In 2013, she was featured in the NBC documentary "A Leap of Faith." She has won numerous awards for her work. I literally felt like I was floating on clouds. And it was so fun to work with, with all of them, you know, anybody that, and they have private appointments that wanted to come in. And he's getting noticed in the medical field. 5. She did what she had to but never let it take over her life, which in turn helped her graduate magna cum laude from Wayne State University in 1987. [00:31:35] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, it is a special process. The two-part special details how Alexander, an award-winning investigative news producer, met Dr. Paolo Macchiarini while she was producing an NBC News special about the renowned surgeons work in the field of regenerative medicine. None of the promises Alexander said her fianc Paolo Macchiarini had made for their wedding day would come true. The emotions of the moment overwhelm her. "I have some really high-powered clients," she said he told her. Benita Alexander is a strong, independent, intelligent, warm, and loving woman who thought she found her love connection with a man that swept her off her feet, much like prince charming! And then John Legend was supposed to be playing piano in the church. (chuckle). Mathias Corbascio, another cardiothoracic surgeon who worked at the Karolinska Institute at the time, said the intensive care unit doctor responsible for her care began consulting with him on the literature written by Macchiarini on tracheal replacements. But our guest list was insane because now that the Pope was marrying us, he kept inviting all these dignitaries, you know, so world leaders were coming to our wedding. TV & Film Producer, Director, Writer, Correspondent, Narrator. And after he left, I said to my parents, that's what I'm going to do when I grow up. I literally felt like I was really wrestling with all the art and. Sigh ) Oh her sisters, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and &. 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