With over 20 seasons under its belt, Grey’s Anatomy has made the careers of its creatives, writers, and stars. The creator of Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes, has been at the helm of her own production company, Shondaland, which has produced many other successful TV programs. Other notable creatives who got their start on the medical drama include Krista Vernoff, who also served as an executive producer and writer on the hit comedy Shameless. The writing on Grey’s Anatomy has also been rewarded with multiple Emmys.
But one writer on the Grey’s Anatomy team made headlines, not for her creative accomplishments but for a massive controversy. Anatomy of Lies is a documentary series that examines one Grey’s Anatomy writer’s lies and fall from grace. Specifically, the three-part documentary delves into the impact of one writer’s lies on Hollywood and her co-workers, and how one of television’s brightest hopefuls spun a web of fiction that blurred the line between storytelling and self-destruction.
Who Is Elisabeth Finch?
She’s A Television Writer Who Got Her Start On True Blood
The writer at the center of Anatomy of Lies is Elisabeth Finch, sometimes professionally billed as Elisabeth R. Finch. She was born in 1978 and grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ with her mom, dad, and older brother. In high school, Finch wrote a play about a father molesting his daughter, which allegedly brought her mother to tears (via Time). Finch graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in creative writing. Then Finch attended USC to study filmmaking, where she wrote and produced her own short film titled Looking for my Brother.
In 2008, Finch was hired as a writer on the HBO series True Blood, where she worked up the ranks from writer’s assistant to junior writer to finally a main writer. She also wrote two episodes of the short-lived series, No Ordinary Family. Finch had an affinity for vampires, as she also served as both a writer and story editor on The Vampire Diaries.
Finch’s Cancer Lies, Explained
She Lied About More Than Having Cancer
Finch was always interested in Grey’s Anatomy but wasn’t offered a seat in the writer’s room until 2014. This came after Finch wrote an article for Elle in which she detailed her diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer called chondrosarcoma. She even wrote an episode of Grey’s detailing her illness.
In the writer’s room, she became the go-to writer for any plot lines involving cancer. She wrote 13 episodes and produced 172 of the medical drama. In order to maintain the charade, Finch altered her appearance to look sick and gain accommodation while working on the show. She used her fake diagnosis to extend deadlines and take leaves of absence.
But Finch’s lies didn’t stop with her cancer diagnosis. She claimed she became pregnant while undergoing chemotherapy and had to make the life-altering decision to have an abortion. Finch also claimed that actress Anna Paquin, with whom Finch had become close while writing True Blood, gave her a kidney. On top of this, Finch alleged, in 2019, that her brother died by suicide. In actuality, he is alive and living in Florida.
Finch allegedly manipulated her fellow writers on Grey’s Anatomy. In confidence, writer Kiley Donovan told Finch that her father is her mother’s sexual abuser. Finch then went on to write one of the most famous Grey’s Anatomy episodes that dealt with sexual assault, season 15’s “After All These Years,” which was partially inspired by Donovan’s story. Finch even made an appearance in the episode as Nurse Elisabeth. Following the reported mental stress of writing that episode, Finch checked herself into a mental health treatment facility in Arizona (via Time).
How Finch Got Caught
Her Partner Became Suspicious
While at the mental health treatment facility in Arizona, Finch met and befriended Jen Beyer, a mother and nurse from Kansas who was recovering from an abusive marriage. Their connection became romantic, with Finch and Beyer tying the knot in February 2020. But it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that Finch’s lies were revealed.
Later, when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, Finch would not allow Beyer’s teenage daughter to return to school, claiming that the teen could catch COVID at school and inadvertently kill her. This began to pique Beyer’s suspicions about her partner.
On top of Finch’s COVID fears, she claimed to have PTSD from cleaning up a friend’s remains after the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue Massacre in Pittsburgh. After doing some online sleuthing, Beyer found that Finch was lying about this incident. In fact, Beyer discovered, through Finch’s Facebook page, that she wasn’t in Pittsburgh at the time of the mass shooting but was out partying.
But the clincher came when Beyer saw Finch in a photo where she had a bandage over her chest from where a chemotherapy port had been, as Beyer knew that Finch had no scars from chemotherapy treatments. Beyer confronted Finch about her fake cancer diagnosis, and Finch admitted to lying about having cancer. She also admitted to not knowing anyone who died in the Tree of Life Synagogue Massacre.
Beyer then emailed Grey’s Anatomy creator and writer Shonda Rhimes, and disclosed the truth about Finch. At first, she was put under administrative leave while Disney Television Studios, which produces Grey’s Anatomy, investigated her case. Finch eventually resigned from the writer’s room in March 2022.
Where Finch Is Now
She’s No Longer Working In Television
Elisabeth Finch as Nurse Elisabeth on Grey’s Anatomy
In 2022, Finch checked back into the mental health facility in Arizona, where she first met Beyer. Six months later, in an interview with The Ankler, Finch publicly confessed that she lied about her cancer diagnosis and other health issues. In the interview, Finch said:
“I know it’s absolutely wrong what I did. I lied and there’s no excuse for it. But there’s context for it. The best way I can explain it is when you experience a level of trauma a lot of people adopt a maladaptive coping mechanism. Some people drink to hide or forget things. Drug addicts try to alter their reality. Some people cut. I lied. That was my coping and my way to feel safe and seen and heard.”
While Finch has yet to return to television writing, she remains optimistic about rebuilding her life and writing career. She declined to appear in Anatomy of Lies, and posted an official statement about not appearing in the documentary on her Instagram, which is private at the time of this writing (via People).
Where To Watch Anatomy of Lies
It Is Available To Stream On Peacock
The three-part docuseries, Anatomy of Lies, is actually based on Evgenia Peretz’s 2022 Vanity Fair exposé on Finch. While Peretz serves as a producer, her husband, filmmaker David Schisgall, both directed and produced the series. Anatomy of Lies is now streaming on Peacock. While it doesn’t feature interviews with Finch herself, she does appear through archival footage and voice-overs. For fans of tell-all documentaries and Grey’s Anatomy alike, Anatomy of Lies will have viewers questioning everything.
