The true story of the Belle Gibson cancer scam


Netflix's new script series Apple cider vinegar Star Katilyn Dever (Booksmart) Just as Australian cancer survivor Belle Gibson has turned his story (and health-conscious recipes) into an online health empire. It's a sparkling glowing of the breadth of the streaming service's fraud story, complementing social media, e.g. Invent Anna and Dirty John, Both rely on key details to succeed: they are based on real stories. and Apple cider vinegar Nothing different.

Although the relationship between social media and the health industry is common at this time, Apple cider vinegar In the early 2010s, influencers just started to achieve their professional height genres by telling enhanced versions of their stories online. In the six-episode series, Dever appears with Alycia Debnam-Carey (100, afraid of walking zombies), Aisha Dee (Bold type) and Tilda Cobham-Hervey (burn), all plays the influential, cancer survivor and friend version in Gibson's Corner, betrayed or bound by influencers. The project was created by Samantha Strauss and directed by Jeffrey Walker, and also targets the contradictions and self-deception that underpin Gibson's empire of lies.

Gibson insisted that although she never had cancer, she was misdiagnosed and was not intended to mislead anyone at first. Now 33, she no longer has a public social media presence and cannot comment. The show was early on through Dever's direct camera that she was not participant and was not paid for the project at all.

Strauss told Rolling stones She was inspired to create the series after reading A woman who deceives the world Beau Donnelly and Nick Toscano, two journalists who first discovered Gibson were lying. "I'm looking at the beautiful girl 60 minutes Back in 2015, like many, she could not admit that she had lie about brain cancer and built a health empire on that lie. ” “((A woman who deceives the world) About the rise and fall of cancer fraudsters. It's about the charm of the health industry, why we sometimes oppose Western medicine, the media accountability, the lies we tell ourselves, and what it means to grow up in the digital age. ”

When Instagram launched in 2010, Gibson became an early player. Under @healing_belle's handle, she shares a fascinating story: She is only 21 years old, Australian influencers told her followers that doctors had diagnosed her with brain cancer and gave her four months to live. She claims she has healed, not through chemotherapy or other modern medicines, but through a healthy fruit and vegetable diet. People believed her and fame turned into Gibson, one of the earliest real health influencers. She turned 200,000 followers into an app called "The Whole Food Pantry" that provides clean recipes. Its success gave birth to a accompanying recipe. But there is a big problem - this is not true.

Gibson's followers first began questioning her story in 2014, while influencers are promoting her book. Local media in Sydney reported that several charities that Gibson claimed to raise funds had never received any funds, even though Gibson insisted that she had been donating and called herself a philanthropist. When Donnelly and Toscano interviewed Gibson, she revealed she had no cancer. The backlash of Gibson's revelation was swift, but the influencers continued to be confused by her health. She claims she is really Have done it She was thought to have cancer, but she was misdiagnosed in 2009 and was not discovered until recently. This is directly inconsistent with her recent statement, claiming she underwent two surgeries about heart problems and was told that her cancer had spread to the spleen, uterus and blood.

In an interview with Australians in 2015 Women's WeeklyGibson admits that her cancer claims are not accurate. "It's true," Gibson said. "I don't want to forgive. I just think (speak out) is a responsible thing." She also gave a sit-down interview 60 minutes Australia Interviewer Tara Brown claimed she would eventually tell the audience the truth, but was scammed by reporters. She told Brown that she told Brown that once I received the sure 'No, you don't have cancer', that's something I have to accept, and it's really painful and I feel very sad. "Brown also revealed that Gibson was lying. She claimed to be 26, but records say she was actually 23 at the time. In 2017, a federal court in Melbourne ruled that Gibson made misleading claims about her charitable donations. According to Australia Broadcasting Corporation says she was fined $410,000 Elle.

In today’s creator economy, healthy content accounts for a large part of the social media focus. According to Bloomberg, the global health industry is worth more than $6 trillion, thanks in large part to the widespread disdain of big pharma companies. Providing health alternatives is profitable online profits – while influencers who publish their own health journeys can make more money, and the more they have. The nature of anecdotal healthy content means that Gibson will not be the last influencer to make false claims. But even since then, her story can warn people who are willing to believe in outrageous claims online, even if the catalyst has not been seen in the public eye since.

“The most important thing is, I want to say, ‘Well, she’s human. She’s obviously living a huge life.