As writer Elisabeth Finch comes back to the spotlight for her new Peacock docuseries, Anatomy of Lies, viewers have been left wondering where she is today after her cancer hoax controversy.
Finch is best known for her writer credits on Grey's Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries, and True Blood. However, her work has been absent from screens since her last episode of Grey's Anatomy aired in 2021 during Season 19.
Elisabeth Finch's Controversy Explained
The controversy surrounding Elisabeth Finch began in March 2022 with a bombshell report from The Ankler, which revealed that the former Grey's Anatomy writer had been investigated at Disney.
Before joining Grey's Anatomy, Finch had seemingly had a rather difficult life, facing multiple serious medical diagnoses and, allegedly, verbal and sexual abuse from a male director on The Vampire Diaries.
As stated by The Ankler, the writer had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, undergone intense chemotherapy that forced her to abort a fetus, and lost a kidney and part of her leg which prompted knee replacement surgery, only to discover her doctor had misdiagnosed her
But in a shocking twist, the outlet reported Disney was investigating Finch for fabricating at least parts of her story shared in the writers' room and with the press.
Just weeks later, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Finch took a leave of absence from Grey's Anatomy to "focus on [her] own family and [her] health," upon which Disney abandoned its investigation.
Later that year, The Ankler revisited the matter as Finch confessed to her hoax, telling the outlet, “What I did was wrong. Not okay. F***ed up. All the words.”
Where Is Elisabeth Finch in 2024?
Elisabeth Finch is back in the spotlight with the Peacock release of Anatomy of Lies, a three-part docuseries recounting her fall from grace and how she fabricated her life story, including her infamous cancer hoax.
Upon the recent premiere of Anatomy of Lies, Finch addressed the matter once more on her Instagram story, stating how she "lied about so much:"
"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."
She added how she "trapped [herself] in the addiction of lies" and intends on "making amends and expressing [her] genuine remorse as best [she] can:"
"I trapped myself in the addiction of lies, betraying and traumatizing my closest family, friends, and colleagues. 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. I've been receiving mental health treatment for nearly three years, and I work hard every day to sustain a life where the truth matters more than anything."
Finch went on to discuss her marriage to Jennifer Beyer (referred to in the post as Jennifer Dawn), someone she "fell deeply, truly in love with" and helped care for her five children. The writer called it the "biggest mistake of her life" to hide the truth from her wife before getting engaged:
"The truth is, I married a woman with whom I fell deeply, truly in love. Jennifer Dawn had five kids I came to love as my own quickly, fiercely, unconditionally -- and still do to this day. Days into us first dating, she got down on one knee and proposed with pieces of lavender strung together into a ring. 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."
According to RadarOnline, Finch's marriage all but ended shortly before her hoax was exposed in 2022. The couple reportedly married on February 15, 2020 and filed for divorce on November 9, 2021, with a deal reached in September 2022.
The outlet stated Finch agreed to pay her ex-wife $10,500 per month from January to October 2022, reducing to $5,000 for September and December due to her lack of work - a total of roughly $189,100.
Along with paying out almost $200,000 as part of the divorce, Finch would maintain health insurance for her ex-wife and pay $5,000 in legal fees.
Returning to her statement on Instagram, Finch noted the importance of "holding [herself] accountable in every way" to "repair whatever damage [she] can:"
"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. 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."
Anatomy of Lies is streaming now on Peacock.
