Elisabeth Finch, former ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ writer, admits she ‘lied about so much’
By Rosa Rahimi, CNN
(CNN) — Elisabeth Finch, a former writer and consulting producer on the hit ABC series “Grey’s Anatomy” and subject of a new documentary series, has admitted in an Instagram post that she “lied about so much.”
The Peacock docuseries, “Anatomy of Lies,” is based on a Vanity Fair story published in May 2022 that alleged she lied about her health and personal life while working on “Grey’s Anatomy,” including that she had a rare form of bone cancer called chondrosarcoma.
On Tuesday, the day the docuseries was released, Finch issued a statement on Instagram acknowledging that she has given “no one any reason to believe a word I say,” and that she lied about “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,” she wrote. “I’m making amends and expressing my genuine remorse as best I can when people are ready. And I’ve accepted the fact that some may never be.”
Finch added that she has been receiving mental health treatment for nearly three years.
Jennifer Beyer, Finch’s former wife, appears in a trailer for the series, expressing remorse for letting Finch into her home and her children’s lives. “When you love somebody, you’ll ignore red flags ‘til they’re hitting you in the head,” she said.
Finch addressed her marriage in the Instagram post, saying she “fell deeply, truly in love,” and came to love Beyer’s kids “as my own … and still do to this day.”
“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,” she added.
“The truth is, there is no excuse, no justification – nothing will ever make my lies to anyone okay. Nothing erases the trauma I caused – the fear, the pain, the anger, the tears, the time,” the post continued. “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.”
Finch first admitted to lying about her cancer diagnosis and about losing a kidney and part of her leg in an interview with website The Ankler in December 2022, seven months after the Vanity Fair story came out.
“She taped a dummy catheter to her arm and shaved her hair to feign that she was undergoing chemotherapy,” The Ankler reported, describing how Finch would behave while working on the medical drama.
Finch also lied to colleagues in 2019 by telling them her brother had died of suicide, when he was actually alive and living in Florida, according to the outlet.
She told The Ankler that she began telling lies during the 2007 writers’ strike, after she hurt her knee during a hike. People were “so supportive” when she required knee-replacement surgery, and then they went “dead quiet” once she healed.
“I had no support and went back to my old maladaptive coping mechanism – I lied and made something up because I needed support and attention and that’s the way I went after it,” she said.
Finch resigned from her position on “Grey’s Anatomy” and sought in-patient treatment before an investigation by the show began, according to the report.
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CNN’s Lisa Respers France contributed to this report.
