How embattled Grey's Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch made cancer her "brand" and allegedly "Delvey'd" Shonda Rhimes

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair's Evgenia Peretz details how Finch, who is currently on personal leave from the ABC drama, became a Grey's Anatomy writer by allegedly embellishing a series of personal traumas, including being a cancer survivor. Everyone believed Finch was a miracle, says Peretz, adding: "She showed up so bravely to the Grey’s Anatomy writers room, a scarf over her bald head. And she so inspired everyone around her that they did whatever they could to support. Her bosses gave her all the time off she needed to participate in her maintenance chemo and clinical trials at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Friends there drove her to and from appointments. When cancer story lines came up on the show, Finch led the way—she was the expert. And she even chronicled her experience with chondrosarcoma on the side—in Elle and The Hollywood Reporter, and on Shondaland.com, to promote her episodes. She wasn’t one to draw attention to herself, no. Cancer, alas, had become her brand." In February, just as Inventing Anna was being released, Rhimes received an email from Jennifer Beyer, Finch's estranged wife. "Rhimes knew of Beyer; she had even advised Finch about matters concerning the couple’s future together and Beyer’s kids," says Peretz. "But this time, Rhimes did not respond…and did not respond. If what Beyer was saying was true, Rhimes—and all of Shondaland—had been Delvey’ed. As had Finch’s friends and family members. Only she wasn’t stealing people’s money. She was taking their empathy and tears, as well as other people’s personal traumas, which she would call her own. (In response to detailed questions for Finch regarding information from multiple sources, her attorney Andrew Brettler contended that not all of Beyer’s claims were true, and asserted that Beyer was neither 'reliable' nor 'unbiased' because the two women are in the midst of a 'highly contentious divorce.')" ALSO: Finch's story has an Anna Paquin connection, as they became friends while working on True Blood and Finch thanked her for her kidney transplant.