Influencers are known for filtering the information and photos that they share with their followers. But one Australian social media star, Belle Gibson, rose to fame for claiming she healed her terminal brain cancer with nutrition—and was later exposed as a liar.
Belle’s horrifying story is the inspiration for a new Netflix series called Apple Cider Vinegar. As the show explains, Belle told her followers that she healed her disease by following a clean diet. But she never had cancer, even though she promoted her recipes through social media, a mobile app, and a cookbook.
The trailer for the series calls it a “true-ish” story, raising a lot of questions about what’s accurate or not. Here’s what you need to know about the real-life Belle Gibson, the inspiration for Apple Cider Vinegar’s story.
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Belle Gibson faked brain cancer and built a wellness empire.
Belle built her career off of saying that she had brain cancer, and then used alternative medicine to heal herself. But she later admitted she had lied after people started to catch on to her. “None of it’s true,” she told The Australian Women’s Weekly in 2015, per The Guardian.
Belle, who was 23 at the time, said that she had several cancers—blood, brain, liver, spleen, and uterine—but told her followers that she decided against traditional medicine in favor of eating whole foods and using alternative therapies.
“I don’t want forgiveness,” Belle said. “I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, ‘OK, she’s human.'”
How was Belle Gibson found out?
Belle had some inconsistencies in her stories, including claiming on Facebook in 2014 that her cancer had spread, only to say in a book released months later that her cancer had not grown in two years.
Finally, a close friend of Belle’s (played in Apple Cider Vinegar by Aisha Dee) who believed she faked her cancer tipped off two investigative journalists at Australia’s The Age. Since no one close to Belle was willing to speak on the record about her diagnosis, their investigation ultimately focused on her promise to give 25 percent of her company’s profits to charities, in donations that were never made.
In 2015, Belle did an interview with 60 Minutes where she said she was diagnosed by a doctor named Mark Johns, who she said showed her fake scans. Until a few months before, she believed she did have cancer, she claimed.
The journalists, Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, compiled their reporting into the 2017 book The Woman Who Fooled The World.
The Woman Who Fooled The World
How much was Belle Gibson fined?
Belle faced legal repercussions from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, with the Australian Federal court finding Belle guilty of violating five counts of consumer law. She was fined $410,000 after she was found guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct, per ABC News. The court found that Belle had, in fact, made false claims about donating a portion of her profits to charities and to the family of a boy who had an inoperable brain tumor.
Belle’s home was eventually raided multiple times in an attempt to get more than $500,000 in penalties and fines.
Belle’s story is fictionalized in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar.’
Belle’s story serves as the inspiration for Apple Cider Vinegar. Belle is played by Kaitlyn Dever, being portrayed as a fame-hungry young woman who is jealous of another influencer (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey). The series is based on The Woman Who Fooled the World.
Where is the real Belle Gibson now?
Belle has reportedly not paid the fines that she received. Belle was “adopted” by Ethiopia’s Oromo community in Melbourne and was using the name, Sabontu. “My heart is deeply embedded in the Oromo people, I feel blessed to be adopted by you,” she said in a video obtained by ABC News.
However, once the community found out about her true identity, they asked her to leave. “She is exploiting the good heart of the people in our community,” the head of Melbourne’s Ethiopian community, Dr. Tarekegn Chimdi, told Women’s Weekly. “People are not questioning when people are approaching them [whether] this is a good person. They did not know what evil she was carrying.”
Is Belle Gibson still dating Clive Rothwell?
Belle was reportedly in a relationship with a man named Clive Rothwell (played by Succession’s Ashley Zukerman on the show), although she claimed they were friends. Clive helped pay Belle’s rent and legal fees, as well as acted like a stepfather to her son, per the Daily Mail.
Clive is now in a relationship with someone else, according to the Daily Mail. He moved into a new two-bedroom apartment and has been seen out and about with another woman, per the outlet.
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
