Related Articles
Former Grey’s Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch said there was “no excuse, no justification” for lying about a cancer diagnosis — and much more — in a statement shared on social media ahead of the premiere of a new docuseries about the scandal.
Finch infamously lied about having a rare kind of bone cancer called chondrosarcoma, and a 2014 essay for Elle about her “diagnosis” led to her getting a job as a writer on Grey’s. While working on the show, she pretended to undergo rounds of chemotherapy, shaving her head and claiming that the treatment had cost her a kidney and part of her tibia and forced her to have an abortion. A version of Finch’s story — in which a character is diagnosed with chondrosarcoma — even became a Grey’s storyline in Season 13.
Finch’s lies finally began to unravel in 2022 thanks to investigations in The Ankler and Vanity Fair. Along with her medical history, it came out that Finch also lied about allegations of sexual abuse by a male director on The Vampire Diaries, as well as the suicide of her older brother, who was actually alive and working as a doctor in Florida.
In her new note, Finch began by acknowledging, “I’ve given no one any reason to believe a word I say. I lied about so much; things so many people have been devastated by in real life. ‘I’m sorry’ feels like the smallest words compared to what I’ve done, yet they are the truest. I trapped myself in the addiction of lies, betraying and traumatizing my closest family, friends, and colleagues.”
Finch went on to say that she’s been receiving mental health treatment in the years since the truth came out while also “making amends and expressing my genuine remorse as best I can when people are ready.” She added: “I work hard every day to sustain a life where the truth matters more than anything.”
Finch also addressed her ex-wife, Jennifer Beyer, recalling how “days into us first dating,” Beyer “got down on one knee and proposed with pieces of lavender strung together into a ring.” Finch said, “The biggest mistake of my life (alongside lying about cancer in the first place) was saying ‘yes’ to Jennifer’s proposal before I was honest with her.”
In ending her apology, Finch said: “Nothing will ever make my lies to anyone okay. Nothing erases the trauma I cased — the fear, the pain, the anger, the tears, the time. And nothing matters more to me than holding myself accountable in every way. I will continue to repair whatever damage I can and ensure I am not the worst things I’ve done. I recognize all of this will take time for people to believe. I will work and wait as long as it takes.”
The new docuseries on Finch, Anatomy of Lies, premiered last night, Oct. 15, on Peacock. The three-part film features interviews with Beyer, as well as two of her children, as well as several writers who worked with Finch on Grey’s. Finch, herself, does not appear in the series.
