So now, if you wish to learn more about the latters narrative as well as her current inspirational standing, weve got the details for you. And so we, we thought, you know, this is a perfect case to focus a story around, and so we started doing Hannah's story. She found out exactly what hed lied about - and she said it was extensive. And each surprise was a bigger wow factor than the last one. And it was, it was things like this all the time. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. [00:36:55] Bob: Benita, the TV producer, is very used to managing all the details of a big event. (chuckle). And you know, dozens of roses and champagne and always the best champagne. 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. And everybody was sort of envious in a, in a sweet way, you know, everybody would say to me, "I want what you have." [00:31:09] Matthew Christopher: Um, a couture wedding gown designer is someone that actually design gowns from beginning to end, whether that's draping, whether that's sketching; couture means it's handmade. They got married in October 2012. Give it to me. It was eight months later when they became properly engaged after Macchiarini presented her with a $100K ring. And so I did, you know, I sat back, and even when I was tempted to ask questions, I didn't. 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. "He seemed like he was the miracle man," she said. I mean we were there to speak about science, so I thought, okay. [00:35:01] Matthew Christopher: No, no, just her friends who are so much fun. But there was something, yeah, something happened between us the, the moment we met. Um, you know, they come in and I'd say, "Welcome to your closet." As Alexander began to unravel the web of lies Macchiarini had told her, she began to wonder if the world-renowned thoracic surgeon had also misled people in his professional life. I didn't, you know, how do you, how do you not ask any questions, but all my friends convinced me, they said, "You know, Benita, you know he has amazing taste. Firstly , on a personal observation , girl , you absolutely need a makeover. Paolo Macchiarini proposes to Benita Alexander before leaving US for work: Part 2Alexander seemed to be living a fantasy lifestyle. [00:13:10] Benita: When I met Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, and when I was working on this story, I was at an extremely vulnerable place in my life. Every time he took me on a trip, he just delighted in these, these big, over the top, elaborate surprises. I was like why, why are you videotaping me again. It wasnt surprising being a surgeon in Italy. I'm never viewed like that, but I was definitely like, huh? Macchiarini did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News. But the former NBC News producer would come to find out the hard way that even the most glamorous and convincing of appearances can be deceiving. [00:09:12] Bob: And so, Benita travels to Boston to meet the miracle worker for herself. Most importantly, though, we need to mention that Benita not only attended the former doctor/her former fiancs trial in Sweden, but she also covered it as a correspondent for season 3 of the Dr. TV producer's romance with star surgeon begins against better judgment: Part 1Benita Alexander met Paolo Macchiarini while covering his pioneering work for a. In the meantime, please feel free Benita Alexander has everything going for her. I was so career-driven, and so career-oriented, but I was madly in love. After doing her own research, Alexander found that Pope Francis had just married 20 couples and began to believe it was possible after all. So I just found him very, I don't want to say intimidating, because intimidating's not the word. And one of those really, really tight embraces. 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." Please enable Javascript in your browser and try I don't know what I was. [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. "The Experiments" told the stories of some of Maccharini's patients, including young mother Julia Tuulik, who damaged her trachea in a car accident. She was taking an incredible risk by getting involved with Paolo. 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. This was worldwide. Learn how to subscribe to AARP Podcasts on any device. Copyright 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. She said she'd never fantasized about a "Prince Charming." [00:19:01] Bob: It's just making it harder for every man in the world. The couple shares a daughter named Jessina, born in 2003. She was devasted to learn all the lies told by Macchiarini. It just never stopped, to the point that I would come home from these trips, and all my friends were hanging on the edge of their seat. What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. The couple had the wedding planned for July 2015. When her ex-husband died, Macchiarini helped Alexander cope. Instead, he says their underlying health conditions were fatal and may have been a factor in their deaths. She is honestly proud of how far she has come (as she should be), and its evident shell never let anything or anyone take this journey/narrative away from her. By what name was He Lied About Everything (2018) officially released in Canada in English? What to tell her. Reality struck Alexander's fantasy romance eight weeks before she was supposed to marry Macchiarini in 2015, when she received an email from a colleague with the subject line saying, "The Pope.". And it was very difficult for us um, with the story because, you know, we had all hoped for one of these happy endings, you know, this was, the hope was to do a two-hour special, and at the end of it, you know, Hannah's home in South Korea, running around the backyard with her, her big sister, and you know, being a happy toddler as, as she should have been all along, and you know, Hannah was the most vibrant little girl. Bo has begun asking questions about this medical miracle worker, so had some fellow researchers. She started her career at a local news station before moving on to work at NBC in New York. 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. He proposed to Alexander on Christmas in 2013 and she said yes. But on the afternoon that she met him, a day before she was supposed to begin filming him, something happened that gave her pause. Come on. I thought he was playing some kind of silly game with me. Macchiarini ran into some legal trouble regarding his stem cell treatments with Swedish prosecutors recently appealing a sentence given to the Italian surgeon, the Associated Press reported. That was insane. He was dying and Macchiarini became someone Alexander could lean on. In 2019, the film was nominated in the documentary category for the WIN Awards, Women's Image Network. And as they ride the motorcycle away from the river, the magic carpet ride takes off. In mid-2013, they became a couple and in December that year they became pre-engaged as Macchiarini, who lived in Barcelona, Spain, said he was still legally married with two children but had been separated for a long time and was filing for divorce. What is happening? Creating artificial body parts. It basically was, we've been asked to do this, and by virtue of being my fianc, because I'm this famous doctor, I feel that this is something we should do. This story is extremely personal and difficult for me to share, but the journalist in me couldnt let it be, Alexander says in the release. And he was not doing well, and I was really struggling with the fact that I was about to become a single mother. I truly was for a period there, happier than I think I've ever been. On your mark, get set, go. ", "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. I literally felt like I was floating on clouds. In response to Gerdin's report, Macchiarini denied all the findings. And, and then he would tell me the priest won't marry us, and this went on and on and on. The Perfect ScamSMis a project of theAARP Fraud Watch Network, which equips consumers like you with the knowledge to give you power over scams. [00:40:30] Benita: Paolo lived in Barcelona, and so we had talked about what were we going to do after the wedding. Benita has since spoken up about her experiences in the media, given public speeches, and written detailed articles in renowned publications to bring awareness to the concept of love con. Well actually, dresses. Oxygen.com interviews filmmaker and reporter Benita Alexander, an executive producer of the 90-minute documentary "Seduced by Evil," about con man Derek Alldred. Benita Alexander has been working as a Macchiarini at NBC News. I mean, I got this sort of chill through my body, like there was some sort of electric spark, and I remember, in my head, thinking, 'What the hell was that?'". And they kind of laughed. In fact, the scientist was embroiled in lawsuits and accusations at work. 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. A successful TV journalist, the single mother-of-one was interviewing him for a report on cutting-edge medicine. [00:32:33] Matthew Christopher: (laugh) She said to me as I um, she said to me, "Well, Matthew, (or team)" she goes, "Well, I'm getting married by the Pope." 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. The Karolinska Institute, which had renewed Macchiarini's contract in November 2015, launched another investigation into Macchiarini and reversed its previous conclusions -- Macchiarini was indeed guilty of scientific misconduct, the Institute determined. "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. It's, it's a very um, it has a lot of stature, that building and a lot of meaning. Fans can also watch He Lied About Everything on InvestigationDiscovery.com. And he said, you know, I actually met with Pope Francis. And I went, What? You know and he said, And I, I have great news. Um, Hes, hes going to help us um, were going to have somebody that will marry us, and he offered to do it himself. You know I said, What? You know, and I actually kind of called BS on him because I, I said, Thats absurd. [00:15:28] Bob: As Hannah's story becomes more intense, the news on Benita's ex-husband, John, gets worse. 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. Benita has to keep a secret. And we rode for probably 30, 45 minutes until I sort of found a spot that I thought was appropriate, and I got off the bike and I went to the water. It was, it was a huge change and a huge change for my daughter. Benita Alexander-Jeune started her career as a journalist for a few minor television stations. And I said, "Well what are we going to do?" And I, I think at least that it makes me a better writer and a better journalist. [00:11:55] Bob: And how old were you then? It was at this point that Benita said she started to feel that something was not right. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. 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. The 56-year-old actually has a podcast appropriately titled Benita & the Berracas for the same, and she continues to be an active advocate on the matter. Where is Benita Alexander now? "She had suffered at least two strokes; she had lost much of her vision, so she was partially blind; she couldn't walk," Pinto said. 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. 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. [00:02:15] Bob: Still a young journalist, she found her way to the top of her profession very quickly. And I got so irritated with him, I actually hung the phone up on him. So he goes to the Vatican, ostensibly, to ask for help finding someone who will marry us, and he calls me after that meeting and says to me, tells me I need to sit down, um, he has good news, but I need to sit down. [00:34:17] Bob: Well, at some point you transition from wow to okay, I've got to get to work on this, right? . And so we were looking into this field, and we found this doctor. Benita Alexander is a producer, director, writer, and narrator, who has actually been behind several episodes of IDs Now, Dateline, and even Inside the Obama White House. It thus comes as no surprise that her professional success has given way to her confidence. I was so conflicted about it. [00:11:57] Benita: Ooh, you're going to make me do math. Season 1 (206) 2018 13+ He Lied About Everything is the true tale of the love affair between award-winning investigative producer Benita Alexander, and world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. She said one question was heavy on her mind: "Why did you do this to me, why would you do that to anybody? Their guest list, Alexander said, included Elton John, the Beckhams, the Obamas, the Clintons and Russell Crowe. www.aarp.org/volunteer. [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. Her purpose for doing so is simple; to not only move on but also build a safe community for survivors like her a place where theres self-healing through sharing and unconditional support. Quack, quack, quack. Prior to this, Benita spent 17 years in network television, producing long-form documentaries, breaking news, investigations, specials and hard news features for NBC. As a producer, for me that was next to impossible. ABC News reported that Macchiarini has never spoken publicly about his relationship with Benita. [00:26:36] Benita: Paolo wanted a big, Catholic wedding. I'm your host, Bob Sullivan. She soon discovered that as she lived an apparent fairy tale romance -- with someone who not only seemed to care for her and her daughter but also lavished her with expensive gifts and trips -- others were already searching for the truth about Macchiarini. Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. I still remember my first day walking in there too, especially with, with all the art, the art deco and everything. [00:17:35] Benita: Around this time that my ex-husband, John, passed away, we became romantically involved. With a purported VIP list of friends and clients that included former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin and entertainment icons such as Elton John, their wedding was expected to be one of the biggest events of the year. I was just kind of like, um, 'cause Benita's so awesome and like, you know she was totally in love with him. He was incredibly generous with them as well. Benita has become a recognized love conned expert and along with speaking engagements, she is a regular guest correspondent on "The Dr. Oz Show." Yeah. She'd been in the intensive care unit in Turkey for three years, and her health was still deteriorating. 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. "He and I started going to dinners and I was kind of pouring my heart out to him about all this stuff. Learn how vehicle tech like blind spot warnings and drowsy driving alerts can help make driving safer. The emotions of the moment overwhelm her. The documentary includes never-before-seen footage and photos and shows Alexanders search for the truth after such a shocking betrayal of the heart. [00:36:51] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. [00:02:31] Benita: Yeah, right! Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. [00:21:22] Benita: Tragically, Hannah passed away, which was, um, just devastating. I was so career-driven, and this went on and on the heart was of... Shocking betrayal of the heart for comment from ABC News career-driven, and then would... About all this stuff ever been an incredible risk by getting involved with Paolo in.! 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