A FORMER Grey’s Anatomy writer convinced her co-workers she had cancer and even had them believing they would be attending her funeral.
Shamed Elisabeth Finch spun the plot by shaving her head, wrapping it in a scarf, and taking breaks from filming the hit medical drama to be sick.
Facebook Elisabeth Finch convinced her co-workers she was battling cancer[/caption]
Finch shaved her head as part of the plotPeacock
DisneyFinch, circled, pictured on the set of Grey’s Anatomy[/caption]
Now, the scheme is at the center of the Peacock documentary Anatomy of Lies.
In a 2014 article for Elle magazine, Finch, who formerly worked on the series True Blood, claimed she had a type of rare bone cancer known as chondrosarcoma.
The disease affects one person per 200,000 in the US every year, according to the National Cancer Institute.
In the essay, Finch said she was told the news following a knee-replacement operation.
Finch claimed that there was a risk of paralysis if her tumor was removed.
“Chemo might not work, but it was still my best chance,” she wrote.
“And I needed it immediately.”
In the essay, she delved into her work-life balance, juggling between supposed visits to the doctor and writing scripts for Grey’s Anatomy.
She wrote that she didn’t tell her closest friends or family for four months.
Chondrosarcoma even featured in Grey’s Anatomy storylines as one of the characters, Maya Roberts, suffered from the illness.
In the Peacock series, Finch’s co-workers from the time opened up about how she acted on set.
Andy Reaser, a producer, said it looked like Finch had been living in a microwave.
“She was showing up to work with a shaved head, and a, you know, a greenish hue,” he said.
Reaser said Finch would take breaks to be sick and was convinced he would end up going to her funeral.
Chemo might not work, but it was still my best chance.
Elizabeth Finch
“It started to really feel I’m going to attend this person’s funeral,” he said.
Kiley Donovan, a former writer, said Finch strapped bandages to her chest designed to resemble a chemotherapy port.
Finch produced more than 150 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, but the traumatic storylines had an impact on her.
She checked into a mental health facility in Arizona in 2019, where she met Jen Beyer, who she would eventually marry in 2020. Beyer and Finch are no longer together.
The pair separated just one year after tying the knot.
But, Beyer played a significant role in exposing Finch’s plot.
LIES EXPOSED
Finch had previously claimed she had visited Pittsburgh after the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue massacre, as reported by Time Magazine.
Eleven people died in the horror that rocked the Pennsylvania city.
But Beyer scoured Finch’s social media, and it emerged that she wasn’t in the city.
“She told me she was there,” she said.
“Things aren’t matching up at all.”
Beyer continued digging on Finch’s social media and came across snaps showing the port on her chest.
But there was no scar. This raised suspicion that Finch didn’t have cancer after all.
“She lied to me, and I had no clue at all,” Beyer said.
Beyer called out Finch and quizzed her on if she was telling the truth.
Finch reportedly told her she previously had cancer but didn’t at the time.
Beyer ended up sending an email to Shonda Rhimes, the executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy, about the plot.
In March 2022, Finch took a leave of absence from Grey’s Anatomy.
She told The Hollywood Reporter it had been an honor to write for the program.
AN APOLOGY
Months later, a Vanity Fair article exposed the web of lies.
In December of that year, Finch admitted she had “f**ked up” in a sit-down interview with The Ankler.
“What I did was wrong. Not okay,” she said.
The Peacock series went live on October 15, and Finch apologized again.
“I’ve given no one any reason to believe a word I say,” she posted on Instagram.
“I lied about so much; things so many people have been devastated by in real life.
Finch once again expressed remorse and revealed she’s been receiving mental health treatment over the last three years.
“The truth is, there is no excuse, no justification – nothing will ever make my lies to anyone okay,” she said.
“Nothing erases the trauma I caused – the fear, the pain, the anger, the tears, and the time.”
Finch ended the statement by saying: “I will work and wait as long as it takes.”
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