On Friday, the executive producer of the ABC News Sunday public affairs show “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” died suddenly at 37.
Dax Tejera died unexpectedly of a heart attack on Friday, December 23 according to a statement sent out to employees on Saturday by ABC News president Kim Godwin.
Read the memo below obtained by Mediaite:
ABC News Family,
It’s with a heavy heart and great sadness that we share that our friend and colleague, Dax Tejera passed away suddenly of a heart attack last night.
As EP of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Dax’s energy, passion and love for that show, ABC News, and you, shined every Sunday morning. That same love was extended to his precious girls.
Our thoughts are with his wife, Veronica, the couple’s two young daughters, and the entire Tejera family.
If you need immediate support, please call our 24/7EAP support line.
We will share more details in the coming days.
On this Christmas Eve, hug your loved ones a little tighter. And please lean on each another.
Kim
Senior editor of Adweek’s TVNewser blog, A.J. Katz wrote an article about Tejera’s accomplishments.
Read below:
Some very, very sad news to report on Christmas Eve. Dax Tejera, the executive producer of ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos, has died from a heart attack.
He was only a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday.
Tejera was named executive producer of This Week in February 2020 at the tender age of 35, just weeks before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. With Tejera leading the way, the newscast quickly climbed to No. 1 among Adults 25-54.
Tejera joined ABC News as a senior producer in the Washington Bureau in 2017 producing remote-anchored broadcasts from across the country and specials from the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore and Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki. Prior to overseeing This Week as its executive producer, Tejera managed newsmaker interviews and covered major breaking news, including the ongoing pandemic, the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
In addition, Tejera worked on numerous broadcast and streaming special events for ABC News. In September 2021 he co-executive produced Corazón de América – Celebrating Hispanic Culture, a primetime special for ABC that honored the contributions and achievements of the more than 60 million people who claim Latino and Hispanic heritage in the US.. He also served as the ep for primetime streaming election specials leading up to the 2018 midterms and launched shows designed to expand ABC News’ streaming programming, including The Briefing Room, an instant analysis of notable moments in the White House press briefing room.
Read more here.
World News Tonight paid tribute to Tejera’s on its Saturday episode.
“Rachel Scott reports on the sudden passing of Dax Tejera, the Executive Producer of ABC This Week. In a memo to employees, ABC President Kim Godwin said that Dax’s passion and love for the show shined every Sunday morning.”
Watch the video below:
His colleagues at ABC, family, and friends reacted with disbelief and grief upon hearing the news of his unexpected passing.
