9 Things You Didn’t Know About Benita Alexander-Jeune

Benita Alexander producer
Benita Alexander producer

If you don’t know who Emmy Award-winning television producer for NBC News, Benita Alexander is, she is the former fiance of Paolo Macchiarini, a celebrated superstar thoracic surgeon and former researcher on regenerative medicine who became known for research fraud and manipulative behavior. Benita Alexander made headlines when she exposed Machhiarini’s frauds about how he convinced her to marry him while he was married for 30 years. Benita Alexander who was once deeply in love with the celebrated surgeon, Macchiarini was all set to marry him, later went on to discover numerous lies and medical frauds about Macchiarini. 

Everything To Know About Paolo Macchiarini

Alexander met Macchiarini while covering his pioneering work in the medical field for a documentary for NBC News. The two fell in love and planned their wedding which was going to be the social event of the year, according to Macchiarini. Alexander was told a series of lies by Macchiarini that their wedding will be officiated by Pope Francis, Andrea Bocelli would sing, and Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Elton John, and John Legend among other high-profile personalities would attend their wedding. 

It all went down in vain when Alexander started to discover the real-side of Macchiarini. Macchiarini who was believed to revolutionize organ transplantation one day turned out to be a research fraud. Alexander ended her relationship with Macchiarini and started to investigate more about his crimes in his professional career. 

This article explores some facts about Benita Alexander.

Learn More About Benita Alexander-Jeune

Benita Alexander Paolo Machhiarini

Source: @vanityfair

1. Benita Alexander’s Mother Left Her In Her Teenage

Benita Alexander grew up like a regular American kid. However, things went bad when her mother left the family. It is reported that her mother left the family in the middle of the night in 1982. Her mother left a couple of weeks before her 16th birthday. Since then, she did not have a good relationship with her father either. Her father remarried. A couple of years later, her father also asked her to leave the house.

2. Benita Alexander Has A Degree In Journalism

Benita Alexander attended Wayne State University, where she studied journalism. She graduated magna cum laude from WSU with a degree in journalism in 1987. 

Benita Alexander husband

Source: @vanityfair

3. Benita Alexander Has Been Married Twice

Benita Alexander has been married twice. Her first marriage was to fellow journalist John Noel. The couple shares a daughter named Jessina, born in 2003. The couple divorced in 2009. 

Alexander then married, Edson Jeune, a ballroom dancer. They got married in October 2012. 

Benita Alexander-Jeune married

Source: @nytimes

4. Benita Alexander Is An Award-Winning Television Producer

Benita Alexander is an award-winning television producer who is known for her won on Investigation Discovery’s “ID Now”, “Crimes Gone Viral”, “Dateline” and “Inside the Obama White House” among other works. For her work, Alexander has received several accolades including two Emmy Awards. Alexander works as VP production/director of Efran Films and also has served as a co-executive producer on “Breaking the Silence” and “Counting On”. 

She also won the Edward R. Murrow Award, Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award. 

5. Benita Alexander Met Paolo Macchiarini While Working on A Documentary About Him in 2013

Benita Alexander has been working as a Macchiarini at NBC News. Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. Alexander was working on a documentary about Macchiarini’s success in the medical field. 

Alexander’s first Husband, Noel was hospitalized with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. As a celebrated surgeon, Macchiarini used to comfort Alexander. They frequently met and started to have feelings for each other. 

Benita Alexander married

Source: @vanityfair

6. Benita Alexander Had Spent Lots Of Money For Her Wedding To Macchiarini

Macchiarini took Alexander to several romantic getaways in Europe. Alexander was in head over heels for Macchiarini. Despite her work ethic, she fell in love with Macchiarini.

Macchiarini proposed to Alexander on Christmas Day in 2013. They set their wedding for 11 July 2015 in Rome. Among several lies, Macchiarini told Alexander, one of those was Pope Francis officiating their wedding. Alexander had already sent invitations to her closed ones. She had already spent good money on her wedding preparations. 

7. Benita Alexander Was Devasted To Learn Macchiarini’s Truth

Benita Alexander was all set to marry Macchiarini. One of the biggest lies Macchiarini told Alexander was that Pope would officiate their wedding and several high-profile personalities would attend their wedding. Macchiarini convinced Alexander that the Obamas, the Clintons, the Beckhams, Elton John, and John Legend were few of many personalities to attend their wedding. 

Alexandra received an e-mail from a friend on 14 May that had a link to an article detailing Vatican plans for Pope Francis to visit South America in July, at the very time when the Pope was supposed to be officiating her wedding. Pope never knew Alexander personally and never promised to officiate their wedding. Alexander hired a private investigator to investigate all the secrets and lies about Macchiarini. She was devasted to learn all the lies told by Macchiarini. She discovered that Macchiarini was still married to another woman and he had been married for 30 years.

Benita Alexander Career

Source: @vanityfair

8. Benita Alexander’s Failed Love Story Was Featured In The Documentary Film, He Lied About Everything

Benita Alexander’s personal life story was part of the documentary film, “He Lied About Everything”. The two-hour special chronicles the perfect engagement that went wrong between Alexander and Macchiarini. Alexander reveals how Macchiarini conned her to fell in love with him with fake stories. She is also the executive producer of the documentary film. It premiered in October 2018.

9. Benita Alexander The Subject Of the ABC’s Series, The Con

ABC News produced a tv series, The Con, that explores stories of people taken in by claims and promises that proved too good to be true, revealing how the victims were fooled and the cost of their false trust. The series also features interviews with the people caught up in the cons, victims, eyewitnesses, law enforcement, and the perpetrators themselves. The Con premiered in October 2020. The first episode of the series featured Benita Alexander and Paolo Macchiarini and their story. The episode is titled, “The Love Con”.

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