“For Years She Fooled Hollywood”: Peacock Reveals Docuseries Based on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Writer Case
The case of Elisabeth Finch was one that shocked the entertainment industry, and now a three-part docuseries will bring the tale to a wider audience.
On Tuesday, the streamer Peacock revealed that it is finalizing a three-part docuseries on the saga of the former Grey’s Anatomy writer and executive producer, whose harrowing story of bone cancer inspired at least one storyline on the ABC juggernaut until it was cast into doubt starting in 2022. Anatomy of Lies will chart “the rise and fall of Grey’s Anatomy star writer Elisabeth Finch, whose jaw-dropping lies fooled Hollywood for years,” Peacock stated in a press release.
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Prior to 2022, Finch was known as a successful TV writer — she also worked for True Blood, No Ordinary Family and The Vampire Diaries — who had been open professionally and publicly about significant alleged personal struggles. She had fought chondrosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer; lost a kidney; had an abortion; and faced harassment at work. She wrote about some of these obstacles in Elle, Shondaland and The Hollywood Reporter.
In March 2022, however, Finch was placed on administrative leave at Grey’s Anatomy during a human resources investigation into the veracity of her claims. She later took a leave of absence and, in a December 2022 Ankler piece, admitted that she had never had any form of cancer.
An Anatomy of Lies trailer released on Tuesday shows Finch’s estranged wife, Jennifer Beyer, and close contacts talking about Finch’s alleged personal journey and how they felt when they later learned there were fabrications. “For years, she fooled Hollywood. She fooled us all,” says the voiceover in the series.
Neither Finch’s attorney nor Grey’s Anatomy distributor ABC responded to a request for comment on the series.
Anatomy of Lies is co-directed by executive produced Evgenia Peretz, the author of a two-part Vanity Fair series about Finch’s time in Hollywood and relationship with Beyer. David Schisgall (Very Young Girls, True Life) also co-directs. The series is produced by Vanity Fair Studios and Dorothy St. Pictures.
All three episodes of Anatomy of Lies will release on Peacock on Oct. 15. View the trailer for the series below.
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