And I said, "Well what are we going to do?" I did not think that by pulling that thread, we would completely undo the sweater.". Benita was pursuing a big story when the ill-fated lovers met in 2013. Alexander was in head over heels for Macchiarini. On your mark, get set, go. It was magical. Give it to me. And he said, he finally said, "Well, I'm going to go and talk to my contacts at the Vatican." So it was uh, quite, quite in--, incredible or remarkable to, for those words to come out of her mouth. Both have covered Macchiarini in their work. He is one of the world's leading cardio thoracic surgeons. And so does anyone who has anything to do with the wedding. 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. 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. In the meantime, please feel free And, and so we pivoted the story a bit to make it a little bit more about some of Paolo's other patients and more about, you know the field of regenerative medicine. Soon afterward, he took her on an "over the top" romantic trip to Italy, where they ate extravagant meals, went shopping and island hopped on a private boat, she said. And he had been fighting with her in the courts in Brazil over this, and then she passed away, unfortunately. [00:12:41] Bob: And you went forward with that weekend pushing the feeling aside, right? So he was very interesting and very fascinating and also because he was a pioneer, and he was pushing the envelope, you know, he was a little bit, a little bit radical, but doing, he was taking chances that nobody else would, and we actually need people like that in medicine. ", Heartbroken, Alexander continued to discover more of Macchiarini's lies in the ensuing months. She's a star producer for NBC News in New York, working alongside Meredith Viera creating primetime TV specials. He gave me really sage, solid, kind advice.". [00:15:45] Benita: There was a particular moment when my ex-husband had gone into a coma, and I was in Illinois, and I was, I was um, very upset about everything and trying to figure out a way, I was talking to Paolo about trying to figure out what to do and how to say goodbye, and uh crying about the fact that I hadn't been able to say goodbye. 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. I loved my life at NBC. In her personal life, she's also looking for a medical miracle, a miracle that, well it wasn't going to come. A JOURNALIST revealed the chilling clue that disclosed her lover and famed surgeon as a "romance scammer.". Which sounds a bit absurd, however, he is an Italian surgeon. En Espanol Alexander hired a private investigator to investigate all the secrets and lies about Macchiarini. 5. And I, I think at least that it makes me a better writer and a better journalist. Macchiarini convinced Alexander that the Obamas, the Clintons, the Beckhams, Elton John, and John Legend were few of many personalities to attend their wedding. 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. She is currently the Executive Producer/Showrunner of the true crime series "Crimes Gone Viral," which airs on Investigation Discovery and is in its second season. 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. Macchiarini has not yet entered a plea, but has denied all of the charges. But when it comes to the wedding, Paolo takes the lead. But at this point, they're just questions. Benita has become a recognized love conned expert and along with speaking engagements, she is a regular guest correspondent on "The Dr. Oz Show." You know, "What did he do this time? But this magic carpet ride takes so many twists and turns that well, you just have to hear them for yourself. We had, we had a very good relationship still when it came to our daughter and sharing custody and you know, both of us were very focused on our daughter. [00:33:17] Bob: What he thinks is this is going to be an incredible challenge. Benita Alexanders personal life story was part of the documentary film, He Lied About Everything. The personal relationship between Alexander and Macchiarini continued to blossom. A successful TV journalist, the single mother-of-one was interviewing him for a report on cutting-edge medicine. [00:30:37] Bob: So now that she's been told the Pope is involved, Benita has another secret to keep. [00:39:32] Bob: And as the day approaches, Benita gets to try on that custom-made wedding dress. I truly was for a period there, happier than I think I've ever been. By what name was He Lied About Everything (2018) officially released in Canada in English? [00:00:01] Bob: This week on The Perfect Scam. 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. Uh, I think he actually appreciated being challenged to an extent. "I was doing a story about regenerative medicine and his name kept coming up," Benita, a New York resident, said on the podcast Dr Death: Miracle Man. The scale . AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers people to choose how they live as they age. And he was putting artificial tracheas, the windpipe, into patients. [00:04:33] Bob: But it also sounds like you get pretty, your stories are very emotional, and you get pretty involved in your subjects, right. I had to understand what happened and why. Maybe help me, help with the invitations 'cause I don't want to deal with that. And so there was a lot of palpable excitement about this wedding, you know, people were really eager and excited for this wedding. The couple divorced in 2009. But her death was awful. And Paolo never talks about his personal life. "The surgeons in Turkey tried to repair it and there were some complications," said Rosemary Pinto, a personal injury lawyer later hired by Cetir's family. Exploring the troubling tales of people manipulated by claims and promises that proved too good to be true, it reveals how the perpetrator fooled their victims and made them pay the price for their misplaced trust both emotionally and financially. We need to be pointing the finger at the con man.. If your response is to point a finger at a victim, thats really sad. When Benita discovers that her fiance is not who he claims to be, she goes on an emotional journey to unravel a trail of destruction that leaves patients dead and their shattered families in shock. Free online workshop! 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. [00:26:12] Bob: So while Bo follows Paolo around the world learning more about the miraculous procedures he is performing, Hannah's Story finally airs on NBC. 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. 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. 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. 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. It was eight months later when they became properly engaged after Macchiarini presented her with a $100K ring. After sweeping Alexander off her feet by taking her to jet-setting and romantic locales all over the world for months, Macchiarini proposed. 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. And then um, (sigh) oh her sisters, the two bridesmaids, and then two flower girl dresses. 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, who waited in the car, said that the last time she saw Macchiarini, he had turned around and walked back up the stairs. You know, part of it is you meet so many different people that you would never meet otherwise, but when you can tell a story that actually makes a difference in someone's life, that, to me, that's one of the most beautiful things about journalism. She was just like a little ray of sunshine, and a) I was just, it was so devastating when she didn't make it. What did he do this time?" In October, 2020, her story was the premiere episode of ABC's primetime series, "The Con," hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. And these were all couples that were quote-unquote living in sin, you know, they had children out of wedlock, or whatever. [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. She won a slew of honors for her work with the greatest in television reporting, including two Emmys. So just under two months before the wedding, and it was just difficult. I loved everything about it, and to be sort of plunging into the unknown, even though I felt very secure with Paolo, happily in love. A post shared by Benita Alexander (@loveconned). I just, I felt like somebody punched me in the stomach. How do we, how do we tell this story? We had a long time together on the flight from Korea to Illinois. And he was not doing well, and I was really struggling with the fact that I was about to become a single mother. He has been convicted of research-related crimes in Italy and Sweden. In the course of that operation, the surgeons had nicked her trachea. Are you new to podcasts? 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. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 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. Not, not that kind of just instant, immediate spark. 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 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. 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. There's so much she couldn't do, but she had this sparkling personality. It said he'd be in South America and that the "trip had been planned for quite some time," Alexander said. 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. Macchiarini was already being scrutinized for his work, including by doctors who had been trying to save the life of one of his patients, Yesim Cetir. It wasnt surprising being a surgeon in Italy. So it was scary. The famous surgeon, a miracle worker who gives hope to hopeless patients, who's rewriting the rules of medicine. I had to expose him.". I, my friends sort of joke now that, you know, I was blushing all the time, and I was just giddy. 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." 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. "The headline is that it started out as a beautiful love story and it ended up as a total nightmare," said Benita. 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. 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. 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