'Brilliant' Emmy-Winning ABC News Producer Dies at 27: We're 'Shattered,' Says Peter Travers

Char Adams
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Emmy-Winning ABC News Journalist Alexa Valiente Dies at 27

A 27-year-old Emmy-winning ABC News producer died Friday night after suffering from health issues for months, the network announced.

Alexa Valiente worked with the network for six years, serving on shows including Nightline, 20/20 and Popcorn with Peter Travers, ABC News said in a statement. The circumstances surrounding Valiente’s death are unclear, but the network said her passing came as a surprise to those in the newsroom who knew her well.

“Always a friendly face in the halls, she had an upbeat spirit, a curious and brilliant mind and a real passion to see the world,” ABC News president James Goldston said. “She will be deeply missed.”

Valiente was awarded an Emmy in 2018 for her work on 20/20‘s Las Vegas: Heartbreak and Heroes, about the deadly mass shooting in 2017 that killed 58 people and injured hundreds more.

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Valiente shared her life on Instagram, posting colorful photos of herself smiling in chic outfits on various trips.

Travers remembered Valiente in a Facebook post, writing that he is “shattered” by the death.

I wanted to look like someone on TV so badly when I was growing up. The only famous Asian woman I knew was Lucy Liu, but we didn’t have much in common beyond the fact that she was Asian too. I just wanted to see someone with a skin complexion like mine, who I could look out for in magazines for makeup tips or what colors would look good on me. I wanted to see someone like me act out love storylines in shows or movies so I would have an idea of what kind of guys I could end up with, what kind of guy might like a girl who looked like me. Sometimes I wished my skin was lighter, like the kids I grew up around, and would stay out of the sun so I wouldn’t get darker, so I could finally look like someone. No worries, I am proud of my skin and my face now. And today, I met the star of a movie with more Asian-Americans on one screen in a contemporary setting than I have ever seen before. And the movie is also GOOD and shows people — who just happened to be Asian — be funny, be dramatic, be sexy, be MOVIE STARS. Not many of them look like me, but they might look like another little girl today searching for someone to look up to. And it gives me hope that one day I won’t have to write a post about the significance of the existence of a movie with diversity in it. So go watch @crazyrichasians, not just because you’re supporting representation, but also if you like good stories with good actors in it — and so that Hollywood knows you want to see more of them. #RepresentationMatters #PROUD #CrazyRichAsians #ConstanceWu #AsianAmerican #PopcornABC 📷 by @jeffthecruel

A post shared by Alexa Valiente (@twentysomethingchic) on Aug 15, 2018 at 8:28pm PDT

“That she is gone at 27 is just cosmically wrong. On a mission to visit a new city every month, #jetsetalexa came at life with a humanity that made room for all of us who were lucky enough to fly in her orbit,” he wrote. “Alexa’s flying somewhere else now, but she’s always in our hearts and always @twentysomethingchic.”

Her colleagues at ABC News set up a GoFundMe for Valiente’s family, so far raising more than $8,000 — surpassing their $1,000 goal. The page describes Valiente as a “smart and tenacious journalist” who lived life to the fullest and brought joy to the newsroom constantly.

Wish you could hear my mom @convalient freaking out about me taking this photo on the edge of the canyon lmao. Silly ma, anything #forthegram! 📸 by my equally daring brother @veb263. #jetsetalexa #grandcanyon

A post shared by Alexa Valiente (@twentysomethingchic) on Jul 18, 2017 at 1:38pm PDT

“Every Friday afternoon, with just enough people still in the office to enjoy it, Alexa would treat the staff to ‘Flashback Friday’ — a weekly jam session at her desk where she’d play classics from Backstreet Boys, Usher and Britney Spears to sing and dance along to,” Allie Yang, an associate producer who worked with Valiente, said in the statement. “She was lovingly referred to as ‘DJ Lexi Lex on the Dex.’ “