Elisabeth Finch, a screenwriter for the hit show “Grey’s Anatomy,” is speaking out after lying about having cancer and the death of her brother.
During an interview with the Ankler, Finch said, “I’ve never had any form of cancer.”
She explained, “I told a lie when I was 34 years old and it was the biggest mistake of my life. It just got bigger and bigger and bigger and got buried deeper and deeper inside me.”
The outlet noted Finch told her colleagues in 2012 she was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer known as chondrosarcoma.
When she was not working on writing for the show, Finch was writing essays for Elle, The Hollywood Reporter and Shondaland.
Not only did Finch lie about a cancer diagnosis, she made up a story about her brother dying of suicide.
“I’ve been gone bc my brother died by suicide,” she said in a note explaining why she was absent from Grey’s writers’ room in 2019.
The note continues, “He was on life support for a short while but ultimately did not survive. I say this not because I need or want anything from anyone, I’m not a delicate flower or whatever, I just want people to know I’m still here, still part of the team.”
However, as the outlet pointed out, her brother Eric is a doctor currently working in Florida.
Disney suspended Grey's Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch after claims she fabricated parts of her life. She confesses now to lying about cancer, losing a kidney, an abortion, her bro's suicide and more. Extraordinary profile of a con woman @peterkiefer https://t.co/NHKNXD3Cah pic.twitter.com/sMD4Cnw2fT
— Janice Min (@janicemin) December 7, 2022
“I know it’s absolutely wrong what I did,” Finch said.
She continued, “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.”
Finch claimed her brother physically and emotionally abused her during her childhood.
“It wasn’t just casual sibling rivalry stuff,” she said.
According to Finch, “There were two things going on: one, my brother was abusing me, and two, my parents weren’t listening. A lot of scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists will tell you that the negation of [abuse], or not hearing it, can sometimes be an even bigger trauma than the original trauma itself.”
Finch suggested she did not know “the connective tissue between my brother and my medical trauma and my depression and PTSD and anxiety.”
The outlet reached out to Dr. Marc D. Feldman, a professor of psychiatry and adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, to get his opinion on what he believes Finch is suffering from.
“This sounds like a classic case of factitious disorder,” Feldman said.
He told the Ankler this case is “typical in a lot of ways except it has the twist of being involved in the entertainment industry.”
Feldman continued, “The main reason people seem to do this is that they have an underlying personality disorder or have a difficult time getting their needs met that aren’t self-defeating. Instead of asking for attention or care, they engage in pathological behaviors that allow them to get what they want indirectly.”
In March, Finch was placed on administrative leave after Disney’s human resources and legal departments announced they would be conducting an internal investigation into Finch’s claims.
The Hollywood Reporter reported at the time that several sources said “doubt over the validity of Finch’s personal details arose after the writer cited a family emergency and left the writers room to address it.”
The report continues, “When colleagues phoned Finch’s wife, Jennifer Beyer, similarities to the story Finch told her colleagues matched Beyer’s own story. Beyer raised concerns with Disney and Shondaland execs, prompting Finch to be placed on administrative leave. Finch and Beyer are now said to be going through an ‘acrimonious divorce,’ as one source described it.”
