Fans of Baby Reindeer and Black Mirror, gather around because there’s a new, must-watch drama on Netflix. Apple Cider Vinegar follows the rise and fall of an Instagram-centered influencer who rose to fame for supposedly curing her terminal brain cancer through dieting. Yet, what followers very evidently don’t know about Gibson is that she was never diagnosed with cancer.
Repeated at the start of every episode, the series is “inspired by a true story that was based on a lie.” So what is the story that inspired this series? Though every other character’s name was changed, Belle Gibson was the only name to come out of this real-life story. Based on the 2017 novel, The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donell and Nick Toscano, the real-life story is just as crazy as it sounds, but how much of it’s *actually* true? I’m here to clarify what happened IRL.
In 2009, Gibson began her blog about her health struggles, where she also revealed her “terminal brain cancer.” This is where she also claimed that though initially trying chemotherapy, she abandoned it to find alternate, natural ways to cure her cancer. The blog garnered Gibson millions of followers over the next few years and eventually led her to create an app and cookbook, Whole Pantry, as shown in the Netflix series.
Through this brand, Gibson essentially scammed followers into investing it in, advertising that 25 percent of the company’s profits would be going to a variety of charities, which it very evidently does and did not as we follow Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar.
It’s true that an investigation was launched against Gibson around speculation that these donations she claimed to be donating, were never actually donated. In 2015, the authors of The Woman Who Fooled the World, who are also journalists, launched an investigation against Gibson with The Sydney Morning Herald. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back because as we see in the series, this would be the catalyst for Gibson’s lies to be revealed once and for all.
The investigation got Gibson to admit to lying about her cancer diagnosis and thus brought about the end of her lifestyle empire. What the series *doesn’t* cover is that Consumer Affairs Victoria sought legal action against Gibson in 2016 where she was ultimately found guilty of breach of consumer law and fined $410,000. As of 2021, she’s yet to pay it. It’s important to note that none of the money the show will bring in will be given to Gibson.
All I can say is, what goes around comes around.