ICYMI: The Finch Frenzy
Hello from rainy L.A.! Some quick housekeeping: Our next installment of The Squeeze series — this one about writers — hits tomorrow, in a piece by Nicole LaPorte. Her first piece on producers struck a raw nerve based on the huge reaction we received; we expect tomorrow’s detail-filled piece covering the financial toll being taken on the town’s scribes — filled with on-the-record stories — to do the same. Remember, The Squeeze series is for paid subscribers only.
Meanwhile, our most-read story in Ankler history came this week via the saga of Elisabeth Finch, the disgraced Grey’s Anatomy writer, whose first interview from exile, with contributor Peter Kiefer, is a wild, unsettling narrative about why she lied over and over, the dysfunctional dynamic inside the hit show’s writers’ room, her relationship with Shonda Rhimes, and the staggering full extent of a nearly decade-long deceit involving cancer, a hate crime, a fake abortion and a suicide. The interview made headlines around the world, from the Daily Mail to CNN to Vulture to NBC News.
The full story:
The 'Grey's Anatomy' Liar Confesses it All Elisabeth Finch, disgraced and in exile, explains what made her do it
The companion podcast:
The Talented Ms. Finch How Hollywood enabled the 'Grey's Anatomy' liar — and the backstory of her confession
Also:
Richard’s The Ankler 100: Part 1! The Lows of 2022 saluted the moments of the year past that we'd like to forget. Part 2 — the grand finale of ignominious events — will land in your inboxes on Tuesday. Who will wear the worst-of crown of the year? Stay tuned!
Entertainment Strategy Guy pivoted away from the all-consuming conversation around subscribers and advertising to look at what Reed Hastings calls the “third pillar” of his business. Will it work? ESG analyzes potential outcomes in Netflix & Video Games: Glitch or Goldmine?
Rob Long reveals the tell-tale signs you should be an industry suit in his brilliant podcast Martini Shot: If Writers Gave Execs Notes
The Wakeup: 5 Days of Morning Headlines
Have you heard of TROLL? Meet NETFLIX's new massive movie hit
PEACOCK Q4 growth matches Q3, but NBCU Ad Revenue "definitely worse"
VIOLENT NIGHT delivers but Box Office crashes to Q3-like lows
From the Archives
Back in March, Peter Kiefer first broke the story about Disney placing Elisabeth Finch on leave from Grey’s Anatomy. This piece would lead to Kiefer’s months-long pursuit of an interview, and revealed for the first time the news that one of the biggest cons in Hollywood history, from one one its biggest TV writers, had happened right under its nose. Prophetically, Kiefer notes that Finch, at one Grey’s junket, described a character she wrote who has secrets “she has no one to tell.”
