Apple Cider Vinegar is a new limited series on Netflix about a woman who claims to have had brain cancer (among other things) all in the name of public attention and money.
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!
The Lowdown
The show is based on the 2017 book The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano wrote it. At the time of the initial book, the two journalists (who are credited with exposing Belle Gibson’s scam) had just begun investigating claims that Gibson’s claim of having terminal brain cancer was anything but the truth.
And boy were they right. The six-part series delves deep into the story of Belle Gibson, a real-life Australian influencer who torpedoed her career after two journalists exposed her lie. In the series, however, there are several fact-fiction moments — let’s dive in.
In March 2017, Australian consumer affairs pounced on many of the claims made by Gibson who touted that she ‘cured’ her terminal brain cancer with several diet changes. None of the claims surrounding ‘diet changes’ were ever proven and Consumer Affairs Victoria later found that she intentionally misled the public. From there, things only continued to get worse and did after she sat for an interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes that could have easily been described as one of the greatest trainwreck interviews of all time.
Following the actions by Consumer Affairs (who as of 2025 says Gibson has not paid her huge fines) legal troubles mounted for the manipulative influencer. Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer eventually sided with consumer affairs on nearly all of the claims against Gibson about her cancer scam. One fact from the court case mentioned is that Gibson argued at the time that she repeatedly lied to the public and others because she was going ‘through a delusion’ while working on her book. Civil case she was hit with $30,000 (£15,000) in fines following the civil case. The Federal Court in Melbourne handed down an additional hefty fine of $410,000 (£200,000) — and as of 2025 none of them have been repaid.
The judgment against her illustrates a wild fall from grace for an influencer who appeared to have it all. Belle was also ordered to pay $150,000 (£75,000) for failure to donate to the Schwarz family who she had claimed would receive 100% of her app proceeds (at the time) towards their son’s *real* terminal brain cancer diagnosis. Unfortunately for Gibson, her home has been searched by federal authorities at least twice in recent years to seize items for sale to force her to repay her debts to society.
She was never charged with a crime and never sentenced to any jail time.
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