How ‘Anatomy of Lies’ Addressed ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Writer Elisabeth Finch’s Cancer Scandal Without Her

Making the Anatomy of Lies docuseries about disgraced former Grey’s Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch came with a set of challenges — namely her lack of participation.

Executive producers Sarah Amos and Melanie Archer exclusively broke down for Us Weekly how their three-part special, which is currently streaming on Peacock, was made without speaking to Finch about her decision to lie regarding her medical and personal history.

“We did want to understand why Finch did what she did. And we tried very hard to get her to participate — or to have as much of her perspective as we were able to convey in the doc,” Amos explained. “But I do think based on the characters that we had and the way the story plays out that diving deeper into [Elisabeth’s estranged wife] Jennifer [Beyer] and the other victims was really important to us.”

Anatomy of Lies chronicled Finch’s rise and fall through the perspective of those she hurt including Beyer, Beyer’s family and more. (The former couple got married in 2020 and are still going through a divorce.)

“Jen’s story and her family is one that also gives an audience a sense of resilience, which we thought would be important in this,” Amos added. “We didn’t want to just focus on a series of lies that leaves a viewer empty at the end.”

Finch joined ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy in 2014 and notably wrote the “Silent All These Years” episode, which centered around a sexual assault victim. The screenwriter claimed in various publications that she had a rare form of bone cancer, helped clean the remains of her friend’s body from the Tree of Life synagogue after the 2018 shooting, lost a kidney and part of her leg and allegedly endured abuse by a male director during her time on The Vampire Diaries.

Vanity Fair posted a 2022 exposé that called many of her claims into question. Finch was subsequently placed on administrative leave while Disney investigated the allegations that she fabricated her medical and personal history. Finch ultimately resigned from Grey’s Anatomy that same year.

The original article about Finch’s controversial behavior paved the way for Anatomy of Lies.

“As filmmakers and as documentary makers, it is always about peeling back the layers of the onion. You think you are watching a series about one thing and it transpires that you are not. [It is about the] deep and dark and emotional crimes that Elisabeth committed — seemingly with regularity — for a long time,” Archer continued. “[It is also about] the courage of those people who [spoke out].”

Archer noted that making the docuseries didn’t answer every question, saying, “Because we can’t say exactly why she did it, and she may not even be capable of saying why she did it. For us, it was just so important having that deeper emotional core so that as we peel back the layers, the extraordinary elements of the story would still propel the narrative.”

Neither Finch nor her family members responded to Anatomy of Lies‘ request for comment. Finch has only spoken out once when she admitted to a wide variety of lies.

“It just got bigger and bigger and bigger and got buried deeper and deeper inside me,” she told The Ankler in December 2022. “I know it’s absolutely wrong what I did. I lied and there’s no excuse for it.”

Finch, who confirmed she “never had any form of cancer,” attempted to explain why she fabricated details about her life.

“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,” she detailed at the time. “I lied. That was my coping and my way to feel safe and seen and heard.”

In the tell-all interview, Finch reflected on how her inner circle shifted since the high-profile scandal, adding, “I wish I had a grid that would show who’s not talking to me because they can’t [legally]. Who’s not talking to me because they don’t know what to say. Who’s not talking to me because they’re pissed off.”

She concluded: “There were people who, when [the] article came out, were immediately very, very nasty on text. Family and friends who called me ‘a monster’ and ‘a fraud’ and said that’s all I’ll ever be known for and soon, more truth would come out.”

Keep scrolling for more details — and answers to some of the biggest burning questions — about how the creative team behind Anatomy of Lies worked around Finch’s lack of participation:

Were There Attempts to Contact Elisabeth for the Docuseries?

“We tried multiple avenues to reach out to Elisabeth Finch for comment — both in the reporting of the article and also in the documentary. We also talked to a couple of different sources who were close to her, who we were hopeful would either get us to her or get us other content that could help tell her side of the story,” Amos recalled to Us. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make that happen.”

The filmmakers relied on “a lot of archive” footage that existed online of Finch.

“I do think you get a sense of her through the doc as much as possible. But obviously we always want to go as far as we can to get people to be a part of the story so we can tell the most definitive and complete version of something,” Amos noted. “But we also have to respect that at this point she is not wanting to be a part of this and certainly respect that point of view as well.”

Does the Docuseries Have New Information About Elisabeth’s Lies?

Anatomy of Lies was put into production alongside the Vanity Fair exposé, which worked in the docuseries’ favor.

“From the Vanity Fair perspective, I think it was less about how we uncovered a new treasure trove of lies and much more. We started to understand the depth of some of the details and the intricacies that were involved. I also think we didn’t fully understand the scope of how much it affected some of these people until we started making the doc,” Amos explained. “When we did the article, it was so fresh and a lot of people hadn’t really unpacked their own feelings about it until they sat down in the interview chair and you see them still working through it.”

She continued: “I hope viewers appreciate that there is still work to be done for a lot of the people involved in this. There are questions that are not yet answered. That’s a really interesting part of our story that allows for almost an interactive element for viewers. It really does draw you in because it is real life and it is still unfolding.”

Archer pointed out that Anatomy of Lies didn’t “set out to give the answers,” adding, “But we ask the questions. A lot of the people who took part [in the doc] were not necessarily ready to take part in the article — perhaps because they still were not sure what the truth of it all was. … The revelation of the documentary is the revelation of depth. It’s those layers underneath the initial lie. That takes you to a place of true questioning.”

The executive producer also stood by the fact that the Peacock special still helps the audience “understand so much” about Finch.

Is There an Expectation That Elisabeth Will Speak Out About the Doc?

“What we have learned during the making of this film is that it is truly impossible to predict what any person will do,” Amos told Us. “But certainly in this story, there’s so many twists and turns that you’ll see as you go through this documentary. Having spent a fair amount of our lives now working on this, Melanie and I and the team have learned you truly can’t predict what anyone involved [will do].”

Archer agreed that they “expect the unexpected” when it comes to Finch.

“There is also a huge passage of time involved from when the lies began to when Jen was able and felt able and compelled to speak up. So this represents a long period of Elisabeth’s life and we can’t predict where she may be in her life now,” she noted. “The team went to [big] lengths to ask her, but we don’t know where she is in her life now and how she’ll feel about it truthfully. What we can be confident in is Jen’s testimony is very powerful,and her bravery in sharing her journey has been truly a privilege as a documentary maker to share.”

Will More People Come Out With Stories About Elisabeth?

Anatomy of Lies featured interviews with some of Elisabeth coworkers — but Amos and Archer aren’t ruling out more people who haven’t gone public with their individual experiences.

“We’ve spent a lot of time working on this and a lot of incredible people have put their trust in us and been willing to share their stories. We always hope that when a series comes out, it can have a positive effect in the healing process for those who were a part of it. But also it will hopefully help other people who might be going through similar situations or feel that something is off a little bit,” Amos said. “Not everyone in their life knows a person who is pretending to have cancer or who is telling these types of lies. But there’s a universal truth to this series, which is you need to trust your gut instincts. If something feels slightly off, you are your best judge and you need to acknowledge those feelings.”

She added: “I do hope people can take that away and really just not second guess themselves and really be honest with how they see other situations happening. But also be honest with themselves. Maybe there are people out there who are doing similar sort of things and this doc helps them realize, like, ‘Oh, my actions will have real repercussions in other people’s lives.’ I think we always hope that’ll be the case.”

What Was the Most Challenging Part of Capturing Elisabeth’s Scandal?

“There’s a huge responsibility — and that’s true of any documentary — to the truth. That was constantly a challenge,” Archer detailed. “You just need to constantly be challenging yourself when you don’t have the other side of the story. Even though you’ve asked and tried very hard, there needs to be a truth and an understanding that that is a truth from the point of view of the people who are telling the story.”

Archer pointed out that “at every point” the perspective of the doc “needs to be challenged.”

Is There a Chance for Elisabeth to Make a Comeback?

While speaking to The Ankler in December 2022, Finch revealed she wanted to return to Hollywood and even listed The Handmaid’s Tale as a potential show she wanted to hire her. Archer weighed in on Elisabeth’s quotes about coming back to an industry that wrote her off.

“Everybody has their own theory. So there is a talking point element to this [doc] which is real and which I hope that we actually use to our advantage in the series. What your answer to that [question] might be is different to mine. Even within her colleagues, people have very different points of view,” she told Us. “The truth of it is that we don’t know and it’s a nuanced portrait. Everybody in the show has talents in different areas and actually where they’re going to emerge remains to be seen. But I don’t think anything would surprise me.”