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Beau Jessup, the 27-year-old daughter of British actress Lisa Maxwell, has died, Columbia University confirmed, shocking classmates and colleagues at the M.S. Journalism program.
Columbia University announces unexpected loss
The Ivy League school shared news of Jessup’s death on Instagram and issued a formal statement offering condolences to her loved ones. The university did not disclose a cause.
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Alongside the announcement, Columbia published an unpublished profile from its “Notebook” series that had been recorded last month. The piece gives a recent window into Jessup’s journalism interests and ambitions.
What Jessup studied and what drove her reporting
At Columbia she was pursuing an M.S. in Journalism and was planning to graduate in May 2027. She was six months shy of her degree when she died.
- Her focus was cultural journalism and how institutions shape identity.
- She explored how social expectations influence public narratives.
- She wanted to probe who controls the stories we are told.
Jessup traced her own interest in reporting back to academic work in social anthropology at the London School of Economics. She also wrote for performance while at the University of Cambridge.
Her voice on storytelling, fame and control
Growing up as the child of a television actress gave Jessup early insight into publicity and privacy. She reflected on the gap between lived experience and the ways those experiences are presented to the public.
She was drawn to journalism for its immediacy and its ability to illuminate people’s lives, while being wary of how stories can be simplified or reshaped.
Creative work beyond journalism
Jessup was a playwright and wrote her first play, titled “The Sandbag,” during her time at Cambridge. She spoke about wanting to combine reporting with creative writing and theater.
She said she admired journalists who could also craft plays and long-form writing.
Early entrepreneurship and public attention
Before her graduate studies, Jessup attracted media attention in 2016 for founding SpecialName. The website helped Chinese parents choose English names for their children.
- The service proved financially successful.
- Press coverage reported that her venture earned her more than $60,000.
Family background and current status
Jessup was born in October 1999 to Lisa Maxwell and her husband, Paul Jessup. The couple married in 2014.
Neither Maxwell nor Paul Jessup have publicly commented on their daughter’s death. Columbia’s statement extended sympathy to classmates, friends, and family.
