‘Grey’s Anatomy’ writer who faked cancer shaved his head and took ‘vomit breaks’ to look seriously ill, former colleague claims

dishonor “Grey’s Anatomy” writer Elisabeth Finch she would allegedly alter her appearance and take “vomit breaks” as part of her orchestrated ruse to make people believe she was seriously ill with cancer.

A clip from the new three-part series. “Anatomy of lies” on Peacock showed a glimpse into the extent of Finch’s lies as he pretended to have cancer for nearly a decade while working on the Emmy-winning show.

In it, his former colleague, writer and producer Andy Reaser, shared the feeling of “betrayal” he felt over the lengths the scammer was willing to go to convince others he was dealing with cancer and chemotherapy treatment.

“The thing is, it was very confusing,” Reaser said. in the clip. “You have to go through eight years of interactions to even understand it and I’m not even sure I fully did.”

Reaser compared Finch’s lies to “performance art” and briefly explained the lengths he would go to to deceive his colleagues.

“She showed up to work with a shaved head and, you know, a greenish hue. He looked like he lived in a microwave. “I was eating crackers, drinking ginger ale, and going to the bathroom to take breaks from chemo to throw up.”

In the clip, Reaser alleged that he heard rumors that Finch would review the show’s medical props and request to watch a “very particular part of something” while pretending to be sick.

“As far as I know, he had a Lego taped to his chest,” he said.

“It’s very difficult to imagine that someone could commit so strongly to that and I find it much more difficult than just doing their job well,” Reaser explained before the clip ended.

Finch joined “Grey’s Anatomy” as a writer in 2014.

Before his web of lies was unearthed in a Vanity Fair 2022 exhibitionthe scribe claimed she survived a rare form of bone cancer, had a friend killed in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018, suffered the loss of a kidney and part of her leg, survived a sexual assault and endured abuse from a male director while writing “The Vampire Diaries.”

Following the Vanity Fair article, Disney put Finch on “administrative leave” of the long-running ABC medical drama pending an HR investigation.

Finch later quit the show and confessed his liesadmitting that she “never had any type of cancer” while speaking with the anklet Months after the exhibition exposed their tricks.

She told the outlet in 2022 that her lies “grew bigger and bigger and buried deeper and deeper inside me.”

“I know what I did is absolutely wrong. I lied and there is no excuse for it.”

In an attempt to explain why he kept lying, Finch said: “The best way to explain it is that when you experience a level of trauma, many people adopt a maladaptive coping mechanism.”

Finch compared his “coping mechanism” to that of people who “drink to hide or forget things.” Drug addicts try to alter their reality” and even people who self-harm by cutting.

“I lied. “That was my way of dealing with the situation and feeling safe, seen and heard,” she added.

“I would like to have a grid that shows who doesn’t talk to me because they can’t. [legally]”Finch continued during his candid interview with The Ankler.

“Those who don’t talk to me because they don’t know what to say. “They don’t talk to me because they’re angry.”

After the Vanity Fair exposé was published, Finch also said that some people he knew “were immediately very, very unpleasant about text messages.”

“Family and friends who called me ‘a monster’ and ‘a fraud’ and said that’s all I’ll be known for and that more truth would come to light soon,” she recalled.

“Anatomy of Lies” will feature interviews with those closest to Finch and is said to reveal how she is “a master manipulator, saving her best fiction for her own life story and exploiting the empathy of those around her.” a press release September he said.

Finch does not appear to have participated in the documentary series.

The three-part documentary series premieres October 15 on Peacock.