In 2018, Elizabeth Finch threw her 40th birthday party. The star of her long-running ABC series, Grey’s Her Anatomy, which soared as her writer/producer, she rented a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, hired a DJ, set up lavish catering and decorated with sparklers. My eyes lit up with the cake presentation. “Huge.”
the celebration Remission of her life-threatening cancer As well as landmark birthdays. Old friends, new friends and industry friends were all dancing and mingling.
“Finchie announced that doctors from the Mayo Clinic were there, but they didn’t want to be identified,” an attendee recalled. “We all wondered who the doctor was.
“Of course there were no doctors … This is not a lie that has gotten out of hand.” [as Finch has claimed]It’s the lies that perpetuated her story and made the party better.
Last week, Finch finally opened up about her Emmy-worthy string of falsehoods Ankler“I have never had cancer.
“I lied when I was 34 and it was the biggest mistake of my life. she continued.
In March, Finch take a leave of absence In “Grey’s Anatomy,” she was being investigated by the human resources department of Disney, the parent company of network ABC. took private leave from the show.
Uproar Involves Lost Kidney and Friend Killed in Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue terrorist attack 2018 — Great. She claimed her brother committed suicide in 2019. In fact, he is a practicing physician in Florida.
Finch told people she had been stalked and had anti-Semitic posters left on her door.
But the centerpiece was Finch’s decade-long story of suffering from chondrosarcoma, a rare cancer. It is said that Many of her medical afflictions informed the “Grey’s Anatomy” storyline, and Finch wrote several published essays about her experiences.
“Her lies are so detailed and deep. She built her career around this lie and made millions of dollars through it. And she didn’t care who got dragged in.” “Stunned,” one former friend told The Post.
“Finch is very smart and very talented. She was able to weave intricate stories and keep everything straight.”
Barbara Wiener, a documentary filmmaker close to people in Finch’s entourage, said the whole thing is considered treason. told the Post. “They set aside a lot of emotional space for Finchy. Now they’re hurt and betrayed.”
Finch blames the long-term lie on “maladaptive coping mechanisms” that began after his 2007 knee injury. At the time, her friends had gone out of her way to help her, but when her knee healed and people moved on, Finch distracted her from telling her hoaxed cancer story. was her way of getting it back.
And Finch went all-in.
“She was commenting that her hair was thinning,” Brenda Cox, a friend of Finch’s estranged wife, Jennifer Bayer, told the Post. I said I didn’t feel like she was doing it, she said she didn’t care because she had no sense of smell. [due to alleged chemotherapy]”
A former friend even believes that Finch was wearing make-up to look sick.
Finch admitted to keeping his skin pale, shaving his head, wearing a fake catheter port, and pretending to vomit in a shared bathroom.
“You felt lucky to have Finch in your life,” added the former friend, before all hell broke loose. Taking them on indulgent vacations, taking tabs on dinner, paying for expensive hotels, and really going out of their way for people.
An old friend now said: Or you are upset that someone you trusted lied to you. We feel that we supported her in extreme ways because of something that wasn’t real.
And it wasn’t casual to support Finch. One friend in Minneapolis took her to the Mayo Clinic for cancer treatment, but according to Ankler, Finch was actually in the halls of the medical facility. and killing time while friends waited in the parking lot.
A former friend remembers the community’s burdensome efforts on behalf of Finch as a circle of people gathered to create a monthly care package for Finch.
“The care packages were themed around things Finch loved,” said a former friend. “One was ‘Friday Night Lights.’ There were pictures of people holding signs related to the show. Additionally, I included a meal gift card and certificate from a local restaurant. It was all you would give a sick and depressed friend. ”
A former friend said the hurt feelings weren’t caused by wasting money. “No one says anything about money. We give a shit about the completely untrue life of someone we thought we knew and loved. She turns out to be sick.” But it wasn’t what we expected.”
The hurt is evident even from someone who is too hurt to talk about it.
“Too much, too painful,” said one Hollywood actor who was close to Finch.
“I really don’t want to talk about Finchy. Everything being said is true,” said another former friend.
But cracks began to appear in her story. “Things were falling apart,” Wiener said. “If the treatment works, you will get cancer in one place. Then you will get cancer in another place and the treatment will not work. The fact that it didn’t was strange.
“You wouldn’t expect someone to lie about cancer,” the former friend continued. “But you can’t accuse them of lying. You’ll be the worst person in the world.”
Others raised questions as well. “I thought things had gotten off track with the Tree of Life synagogue situation. Well, she could have gone to the synagogue there.” [as a college student] and didn’t tell me “But then she said her friend died in the raid. She then flew to Pittsburgh and entered the synagogue to remove her friend’s remains.” Did she really step into a lively crime scene? That was a lot to process.”
By her own account, things really started to unravel for Finch in 2019 when she entered an Arizona medical center that specializes in treating trauma. I met patient Beyer. They fell in love and soon married, and Beyer pressured Finch to confess about her lies.According to The Ankler, when Finch hesitated, Beyer did it for her.
Finch and Beyer are currently in divorce proceedings.
Asked for comment, Finch’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, pointed to The Post to The Ankler’s story: Nothing more from us. The Post also reached out to Bayer separately, but received no response.
However, some believe that Finch is still lying.
“The Ankler article continues to sound untrue. It sounds like she believes everyone got together and decided to cut her out. It wasn’t the group’s decision,” said a former friend. “She’s trying to get sympathy by blaming others for what happened. In fact, no one believes she lied out of control. I believe it was intentional.”
As for what’s next for Finch, she told Ankler that she wants to get back to writing in Hollywood.
“We think she’s trying to get a book deal. She’s a writer and has to survive,” said a former friend. She said, “She can’t imagine being in a writer’s room for another TV show. Her stink is extreme.”