The made-for-TV story of Elisabeth Finch, who faked a cancer diagnosis—and got a job at Grey’s Anatomy out of it—is getting the documentary treatment with Peacock’s Anatomy of Lies.
Based on Evgenia Peretz’s 2022 two-part exposé for Vanity Fair, the series, directed and executive-produced by Peretz and David Schisgall, delves into Finch’s particular brand of grift, parsing how exactly the writer eked out a successful career and years’ worth of sympathy through lies that place her squarely among the headline-grabbing scammers who have gripped audiences and readers in recent years. As the entire three-episode saga debuts on Peacock, here’s a brief look at all there is to know about Finch’s true story.
Who is Elisabeth Finch?
Finch got her start as a writer’s assistant on True Blood in 2008, and was later promoted to a full writer position. She wrote for the 2010 superhero dramedy No Ordinary Family before moving to The Vampire Diaries in 2012, where she earned the nickname “Vampire Girl.” In 2014, she wrote an article for Elle detailing her cancer diagnosis. A Shondaland development executive saw it shortly thereafter, and recommended Finch as a potential hire. Finch subsequently met with Shonda Rhimes and was offered a job. Finch would go on to write 13 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, and produce 172.
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What was her alleged illness?
Finch claimed she had been diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a rare, malignant type of bone cancer—and she eventually gave the same disease to Debbie Allen’s character, Catherine Avery, on Grey’s Anatomy. Finch said doctors had discovered her cancer after she underwent a knee-replacement surgery, and also claimed they told her that operating on it might paralyze her.
Her coworkers in the Grey’s writers room detailed the great lengths to which she went in order to keep up the ruse. In her account, Peretz describes Finch as an eclipsing presence in the workplace who “carried her heart—and her cancer—on her sleeve,” appearing visibly sick and seeming to only get sicker. Finch would wear scarves over her bald head and a bandage over what would’ve been a chemo port. Her skin had a yellow-greenish hue, and she could sometimes be heard vomiting in the bathroom—but refused to go home, even when her colleagues insisted she wasn’t well enough to work. “No, no. I really want to be here. Just let me do an hour more,” Finch would reply.
What else did she lie about?
Finch said that she miraculously conceived a child during her cancer treatments, but had to receive a life-saving abortion because the pregnancy was incompatible with her chemotherapy. She claimed that she needed a kidney transplant, and that actor Anna Paquin (whom Finch had actually befriended during her time at True Blood) offered to be her organ donor. Sources confirmed to Peretz that Paquin never had anything to do with Finch’s kidneys.
But Finch’s fabrications also extended beyond her health. She told coworkers not only that she had lost a near and dear college friend to the Tree of Life synagogue massacre, but that she had actually helped to clean the friend’s remains off the floor—with the permission of the FBI. She said she suffered from PTSD as a result of the ordeal. Finch would also claim to her Grey’s colleagues that her older brother, a doctor named Eric, had abused her when they were children, then intentionally botched an attempted suicide—forcing Finch to be the one to cease his life support. In fact, Eric is alive and lives in Florida. He and other family members, including Finch’s mother, tried to offer her care in the wake of her cancer diagnosis, but she reportedly rebuffed their efforts. Additionally, Finch said she had part ownership in Anna Paquin’s house—another claim that, as you might imagine, was denied.
Who is Jennifer Beyer?
Bayer was the canary in the coal mine for Finch’s deception; she was also Finch’s wife. The two met in Arizona in 2019, when both were in a mental health treatment program. They married in 2020. When they met, Beyer was suffering from PTSD as a result of an abusive 18-year marriage, and had taken out a protection order and filed for a divorce from her husband, Brendan. Following a dissociative episode, Brendan claimed Beyer was psychotic and she was at risk of losing custody of her children. She checked herself into the Arizona facility to prove she was a safe and sane mother. Finch would use Beyer’s experiences to flesh out the backstory of Grey’s character Jo Wilson.
COVID lockdowns would eventually strain their relationship, as Finch’s supposed traumas and ill health loomed even larger. During that time Bayer, a nurse, became suspicious of Finch’s stories. After confronting Finch about her inconsistencies, Bayer realized Finch wouldn’t come clean. So Bayer revealed the truth in a February 2022 email to Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, just as Rhimes was preparing to release a new show: Inventing Anna, about con artist Anna Delvey.
Where is Elisabeth Finch now?
In March of 2022, Finch was put on administrative leave from Grey’s Anatomy, and ultimately resigned from the series later that month. She finally admitted to lying about her diagnosis in an interview with The Ankler published in December of that year. “I lied and made something up because I needed support and attention and that’s the way I went after it,” she said.
In an Instagram post published on October 15—as Anatomy of Lies debuted on Peacock—Finch states that she has been in treatment for her mental health for nearly three years. “The truth is, there is no excuse, no justification—nothing will ever make my lies to anyone okay,” Finch wrote. “I will continue to repair whatever damage I can and ensure I am not the worst things l’ve done. I recognize all of this will take time for people to believe.”
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