Former 'Grey's Anatomy' Writer Admits To Faking Cancer Diagnosis After Missing Attention She Got From A 2007 Surgery
Her lies didn't stop there, though.
Kathy Hutchins/ Shutterstock.com/ erfinchie/ Instagram.com "Grey’s Anatomy" has graced the scenes of many fans’ televisions since it first premiered in 2005.
The show, which has ran for 18 seasons, has had an interesting storyline over the years all thanks to the tenacious writers.
But the bigger story wasn’t shown on screen but rather behind the scenes.
Former 'Grey’s Anatomy' writer, Elizabeth Finch, admitted to faking her cancer diagnosis.
Finch’s work spans not only just with "Grey’s Anatomy" but also "Vampire Diaries," "True Blood," and "No Ordinary Family."
But Finch was known for more than just her contributions to these shows.
Before getting hired on with Grey’s Anatomy, Finch started to publish online essays documenting her harrowing journey with her diagnosis.
Finch claimed she was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, forcing her to lose a kidney and part of her leg.
Finch also detailed how the intense rounds of chemotherapy forced her to abort her child.
Through this, she later learned she was misdiagnosed by her doctor and later confronted in one of the essays.
Finch also wrote about how she lost her brother to an apparent suicide.
But despite Finch’s harrowing hardships, none of it is real.
In March, multiple sources confirmed to The Ankler that Disney was investigating Finch after putting her on leave. Finch later resigned before the investigation fully went through.
Now, Finch is breaking her silence in a tell-all interview with The Ankler.
Finch said she lied because she became used to the attention she received after her knee replacement in 2007.
“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,” she said.
“I’ve never had any form of cancer.”
There was some truth behind the knee replacement but not due to the cancer. Finch injured herself while hiking in the Temescal Canyon.
She became dependent on her friends and their attention but noticed it all stopped after she was healed.
“What ended up happening is that everyone was so amazing and so wonderful leading up to all the surgeries. They were so supportive. And then I got my knee replacement,” she said.
“It was one hell of a recovery period and then it was dead quiet because everyone naturally was like Yay! You’re healed. And 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. That’s where that lie started — in that silence.”
But Finch claims there was more to the source of her lies than people realized.
According to Finch, she endured emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her brother, Eric, who she later claimed committed suicide.
“It wasn't just casual sibling rivalry stuff. There were two things going on: one, my brother was abusing me, and two, my parents weren't listening," she explained.
"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,” she alleged.
While Finch owns up to her lies, she hopes that her work and the relationships she once had will hopefully allow her back into the writing spotlight.
Victoria Soliz is a writer with YourTango who covers news and entertainment content. Her work explores pop culture trends, film and TV, and celebrity news