By Velvet Winter, ABC Entertainment
Before the final credits run on Netflix's new series, Apple Cider Vinegar - the dramatisation of Australian wellness scammer Belle Gibson's meteoric rise and messy fall - a title card starts to tap text across the screen.
It begins to explain the legal ramifications that befell Gibson after she convinced billion-dollar companies, publishing houses and the public that she had cancer, as well as pocketing thousands she raised for cancer charities.
But before the typist can finish the sentence, Netflix's version of Gibson - played by US actor Kaitlyn Dever - pops up to command the audience to just Google it.
As far as Apple Cider Vinegar is concerned, Gibson's story ends with her reputation imploding spectacularly following her highly publicised admission that she never had cancer.
In reality, the legal fallout of Gibson's confession continued for years and resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid fines.
Who is Belle Gibson?
Belle Gibson rocketed to notoriety in August 2013, when she launched her wellness app, The Whole Pantry.
Described as "the world's first health, wellness and lifestyle app", The Whole Pantry was half a collection of healthy recipes and half a guide to positive thinking and the supposed impact it can have on a person's wellbeing.
In an early 2010s world where Instagram was the hot new thing, the app blew up. It garnered 200,000 downloads in the first month after launch, and was voted Apple's Best Food and Drink App of 2013.
Gibson signed a publishing deal with Penguin for a cookbook shortly after, and The Whole Pantry tabletop book was released in late 2014. Soon after, it was announced that her app was destined to be a pre-installed, default third-party inclusion in the upcoming Apple Watch.
While her public profile was soaring, Gibson claimed she had donated 25 percent of her company's profits, and purported to have given A$300,000 (NZ$269,600) to various charities. In reality, Gibson donated less than A$10,000 from about earnings of A$420,000.
But at the same time, Gibson's story was unravelling as articles started appearing in Australian news publications, which claimed she was lying about both her charitable donations and health status.
In April 2015, Gibson admitted that she did not and had never had cancer.
US actress Kaitlyn Dever plays the Belle Gibson character during the infamous 60 Minutes interview in Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar. Photo: Netflix / Ben King
Is Apple Cider Vinegar a true story?
Kind of.
The series is "inspired by" the 2017 book, The Woman Who Fooled the World, by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, two of The Age journalists who broke early stories about Gibson's fraud.
The bones of Gibson's story - such as her rise on social media, her publishing deal and her infamous 60 Minutes interview post admission of lying - did really happen.
But most of the connective tissue of the series is fictional.
The B-story involving competing influencer Milla Blake is reminiscent of things that happened to some real-life people, but the character is an amalgamation of the wellness influencers and believers of the time. C-story additions, like the inclusion of Belle fan and cancer patient Lucy, are fictional.
According to Netflix, the series is a "work of fiction" and their promotional material emphasises that "certain characters and events have been created or fictionalised" and that "the series is not a biopic".
Netflix landed in hot water last year off the back of stalker series Baby Reindeer, which was billed in advertising material as a "true story".
Scottish woman Fiona Harvey - who internet sleuths identified as the stalker of the show's protagonist and writer Richard Gadd - launched legal action against Netflix in 2024, claiming the streamer fictionalised her actions and presented them as true to her detriment.
In September 2024, a US judge ruled that Harvey could pursue defamation action against Netflix, noting the show was incorrectly billed as a "true story" and that Netflix "made no effort" to fact-check Gadd's story.
US actress Kaitlyn Dever in Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar. Photo: Netflix / Ben King
So, what happened to Belle Gibson?
In May 2016, months after Gibson's infamous 60 minutes interview, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) announced it was launching a civil case against her and her company, following an investigation that alleged Gibson had broken Australian consumer law.
CAV also confirmed that Penguin had aided in the investigation, admitting it didn't verify Gibson's health claims prior to publishing The Whole Pantry cookbook and agreeing to make a A$30,000 donation to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund.
In March 2017, Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer upheld "most but not all" of CAV's allegations, finding that the then-25-year-old engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
Judge Mortimer didn't accept CAV's allegations that Gibson had acted unconscionably, asserting that she was under a "delusion" while releasing her book.
"She may have had other psychological or psychiatric issues," the published ruling said.
Did Belle Gibson go to jail?
No.
Gibson has not been prosecuted or convicted of a crime. She was found to have breached consumer laws but that's not the same or as serious as criminal fraud charges which would attract jail time.
However, she copped a hefty amount of fines following the civil case judgement in September 2017.
She was first fined A$30,000 in costs following the civil case. The Federal Court in Melbourne handed down an additional fine of A$410,000 - A$10,000 less than The Whole Pantry cookbook and app made, according to CAV's claims.
The fine included:
- A$90,000 for failing to donate proceeds from the sale of The Whole Pantry app, as publicly advertised
- A$50,000 for failing to donate proceeds from the launch of The Whole Pantry app
- A$30,000 for failing to donate proceeds from a 2014 Mothers' Day event
- A$90,000 for failing to donate other company profits
Gibson didn't attend any of her original court dates, or the dates where the fines were handed down.
By May 2018, Gibson's fines were still unpaid, causing CAV to launch further legal action.
The legal action continued into 2019, when Gibson did appear in court as her spending was scrutinised and the then-27-year-old claimed she was still unable to repay her debt.
A financial analysis of Gibson showed she had spent about $91,000 between 2017 and 2019, including trips to Bali and Africa, as well as an estimated $13,000 on clothes, cosmetics and accessories.
US actress Kaitlyn Dever in Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar. Photo: Netflix / Ben King
What happened to the family Gibson claimed to raise money for?
In the early days of her social media ascension, Gibson befriended Penne Schwarz and her young son Joshua, who had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer similar to the illness Gibson claimed to have at the time.
According to court documents, the Schwarz family was one of the causes to which Gibson pledged to donate the proceeds from her app launch event tickets. She also claimed 100 percent of the proceeds from the sales of the Whole Pantry App for a week in December 2013 would be donated to the Schwarz family. No such donation was ever made.
As a part of her 2017 judgement, Gibson was ordered to pay A$150,000 for failure to donate this money to the Schwarz family.
Justice Mortimer described this as the "most serious" contravention of the law.
"Ms Gibson expressly compared the terrible circumstances of young Joshua to her own, asserting she had the same kind of tumour as he did; a statement which was completely false," Justice Mortimer said.
Joshua died in 2017.
What happened after the court case?
In January 2020, with her unpaid fines now topping A$500,000 including penalties and interest, Gibson's home was raided by Victoria's Sheriff's Office on a "search and sale" warrant.
The Sheriff's Office has the power to seize items and sell them to settle debts. CAV would not confirm if the raid had resulted in any recovery of the outstanding fines.
A day after the raid was reported, footage emerged on social media of Gibson attending an event for Ethiopia's Oromo community in Melbourne while wearing a headscarf and using a different name.
Gibson's home in Northcote, Melbourne was raided for a second time in May 2021, in another attempt to seize items to sell in order to repay her outstanding debts.
- ABC
