If you haven’t already heard, there’s a new jaw-droppingly addictive crime drama on Netflix and it goes by the name of Apple Cider Vinegar. The six-part drama follows Belle, who builds a wellness empire off the back of a wicked lie: she has cancer and she’s cured it through clean eating and alternative therapies.
Sound absurd? That’s because it is – but believe it or not, the series is inspired by the story of the real-life Belle Gibson, an influencer who promoted her wellness app by lying about having cancer. Netflix has been quick to hammer home the point that the series has "inspirations in real events" and so it's "true-ish". But it’s got us wondering, who is the real Belle Gibson – and what did she actually do? Here’s everything we know…
Who is Belle Gibson?
Belle Gibson is a 33-year-old Australian convicted scammer. She became one of the first “super influencers” on Instagram after falsely claiming to have been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2009, and convincing fans that she’d cured it using a variety of natural methods.
Her social media presence told the story of how, after being told she only had four months to live, she cured her inoperable brain cancer through health and living. It led to her developing The Whole Pantry mobile app, which was reportedly downloaded 200,000 times in its first month.
She leveraged the success to build a Whole Pantry wellness Brand and she was dubbed “the most inspiring woman you’ve met this year” by Elle Australia. However, it was all a lie. Gibson had never been diagnosed with brain cancer, nor the “cancer in my blood, spleen, brain, uterus, and liver” that she later claimed she'd also been diagnosed with in a 2014 Instagram post. Conveniently, the latter claim was made when rumours began surfacing that she may have been a fraud.
Did she get found out?
Yes, she did. In 2015, Gibson was contacted by Donelly and Toscano, journalists from the Australian newspaper, The Age, who had received a tip that Gibson was lying about her disease and had some questions.
While they were unable to access Gibson’s medical records to verify whether she actually had cancer or not, they looked into her finances, and began to question whether she's lied about her philanthropy. Gibson had previously claimed she was donating large portions of her profits to various charities - but it turned out she was not.
The pair published their findings and Gibson’s fans quickly began to turn against her, questioning everything she's previously told her. The professional fallout was swift and finally, in April 2015, she admitted the truth in a magazine interview. “No, none of it’s true,” she said.
Did she face legal action?
Yes. In March 2017, Gibson was found guilty of five breaches of consumer law and ordered by the Federal Court of Australia to pay A$410,000 to the state of Victoria for her false charity promises. She is not believed to have paid the fine yet.
Where is Belle Gibson now?
In 2020, Australia's ABC News reported that she had been adopted into Ethiopia's Oromo community in Melbourne, with Gibson reportedly saying her "heart is deeply embedded in the Oromo people."
However, the president of the Australian Oromo Community Association in Victoria, Tarekegn Chimdi, stated that Gibson was not a registered volunteer, "not a community member and she's also not working with the community" - and that he had seen her at events only two or three times. He expressed a desire for her to stop saying she is part of the community
All six episodes of Apple Cider Vinegar are now available to watch on Netflix.
