Belle Gibson duped thousands into believing she’d cured her own “inoperable brain cancer” through a healthy diet and natural remedies, but left her fans shocked when it was revealed she had been lying
A new Netflix series will delve into the web of lies manufactured by an Australian influencer who conned fans into believing she had “cured” her cancer through healthy eating and other natural remedies. Belle Gibson has been dubbed Australia’s most hated influencer after lying about having “inoperable brain cancer”.
She was soon caught out, with a fictionalised version of her rise and fall set to air on Netflix. The six-part series, titled Apple Cider Vinegar, stars The Last of Us actress Kaitlyn Dever and Fear the Walking Dead’s Alycia Debnam-Carey as a pair of social media influencers concealing a huge secret.
The series will launch later this week. Belle, who is now 33, shared her cancer journey online, claiming she had been given just months to live by a doctor.
She then claimed the cancer had spread to her “spleen, liver, uterus and blood” due to a negative reaction to a vaccine. But in 2013, she went one step further as she shocked fans claiming to have cured her cancer with “fruits, vegetables and natural remedies”.
Belle went on to launch The Whole Pantry app, featuring her “miracle” recipes and advice, as well as an accompanying cookbook. Around 200,000 fans are thought to have bought the £2 ($4) app.
By early 2015, she is thought to have made more than £500,000 ($1million) in sales. But it soon came crashing down for the influencer after she vowed to donate £150,000 ($300,000) to charity.
As fans and journalists started questioning where the money had came from, her lies were caught out. In 2015, Gibson told 60 Minutes she had been diagnosed by a doctor who had purposefully lied and told her she had a brain tumour.
But it all came out in an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly that same year. When asked directly if she had cancer, she admitted “none of it’s true”.
“I don’t want forgiveness,” she said. “I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, ‘Okay, she’s human. She’s obviously had a big life. She’s respectfully come to the table and said what she’s needed to say, and now it’s time for her to grow and heal.’”
Belle was consequently fined £205,000 ($410,000) by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for lying about her donations to charity. The Whole Pantry app and book were also pulled. She appeared in court last year after failing to pay the fine.
After her lies were exposed, she kept out of the limelight. Although in 2020, ABC Australia reported that Gibson was “attending an event for Ethiopia’s Oromo community in Melbourne while wearing a headscarf and using a different name.”
All six episodes of Apple Cider Vinegar drop on Netflix on Thursday, February 6.