Infidelity hurts, but the heartbreak Jenifer Faison suffered was on a whole other level, considering the staggeringly sordid scale of her husband's infidelity. On June 1, 2018, Jenifer learned of her husband Spencer Herron's double moment upon returning home to find him sitting on the couch in the living room, shaking his head and muttering "it's over, it's over." On the table next to him was a search warrant with the words "sexual assault" and "student." Before Jennifer could process what was happening, the cops arrived and arrested Spencer, thus beginning an ugly and unexpected nightmare.
Based on the podcast of the same name by Jenifer and producer Andrea Gunning, Betrayal: The Perfect Husband is a three-part docuseries from ABC News Studios chronicling the shocking revelations that rocked Jenifer's world and the bravery on the part of a young victim who brought Spencer's disgusting behavior to light. The non-fictional guise of her is stretched for maximum melodramatic ends, highlighted by cheesy drone shots and songs whose on-the-nose lyrics seem designed to inspire guffaws and eye-rolls. However, its central story remains compelling, especially when, during its final chapter, it allows a survivor of sexual assault to detail the step-by-step means by which she was groomed to engage in a criminally inappropriate relationship.
Jenifer originally met Spencer when she transferred to Berry College, a small institution in northwest Georgia, for her junior year. The manager of the school's television station, as well as an on-air personality, Spencer was well known and liked by all; Friend Josh Villines says he was the kind of charismatic, good-looking, outgoing Eagle Scout who would generously help you move a couch into your bedroom. Jenifer and Spencer started dating almost immediately, and thanks to her sweetness and effusiveness, he would often pass her handwritten notes that proclaimed her "a dream come true." I am now the happiest man on campus”—Jenifer fell head over heels in love, going so far as to introduce her to her family.
Despite the fairy tale nature of her courtship, Jenifer broke up with Spencer (who was a year older than her) when she graduated, believing things wouldn't last given the different circumstances. After three years at a radio station, Jenifer moved to Los Angeles to become a television producer on shows like Judge Judy and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (for which she was nominated for an Emmy). Spencer stayed in Georgia and married, had children, and worked as a freelance videographer and at a high school where he taught video production. On top of that, he played in an Air National Guard band, which required occasional deployments. Both Jenifer and Spencer were thriving, and 20 years (and a divorce from Spencer) later, a chance Facebook message, and a fortuitous turn of events that landed them both in New York City at the same time, led them to reconnect.
From the beginning, Jenifer thought that his renewed love for her was "magical" and "meant to be," and she soon decided to return to Georgia to be with him. On camera, she and Andrea pore over Spencer's notes and love letters, to a degree of runtime padding (and bordering on self-exploitation), to prove that Jenifer was justified in being dragged down by Spencer. That material extends to clips of the couple's December 30, 2012 wedding and their subsequent purchase of a wine bar in downtown Acworth, Georgia, and conclusively establishes that Spencer seemed like an ideal match. As a result, when he was accused of sexual assault, Jenifer was completely shocked. Furthermore, her jaw dropped as she inspected his emails, Facebook account, and text messages, which revealed that he had slept with dozens upon dozens of women, including friends of hers, prostitutes and escorts, and most damning of all, a of his high school students.
Through new interviews as well as those taken from the podcast, plus Jenifer's highly organized and data-driven analysis of her correspondences, Betrayal: The Perfect Husband conveys the wide scope of Spencer's compulsive cheating. At times, with six or seven flings going on at once, he was apparently a possessed lout, and the Hulu docuseries suggest he was a true sex addict who needed to continually push boundaries: the number of women he was with; of the risks he was taking; and of the perversity of dating him—to feel satisfied.
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