Netflix's 'Apple Cider Vinegar' chronicles the rise and fall of wellness scammer Belle Gibson. While the series dramatizes her story, it also highlights the real-life legal repercussions she faced for deceiving the public about her cancer diagnosis. This exploration dives into the details of Gibson's legal battles, revealing the extent of her financial fraud and the lasting impact it had on her.
Before the final credits roll on Netflix 's new series, Apple Cider Vinegar — a dramatisation of Australian wellness scam mer 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.
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. 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 television series.While her public profile was soaring, Gibson claimed she had donated 25 per cent of her company's profits, and purported to have given $300,000 to various charities. In reality, Gibson donated less than $10,000 from approximate earnings of $420,000. But at the same time, Gibson's story was unravelling as articles started appearing in Australian news publications, which claimed she had fabricated her cancer diagnosis. 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.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. Alycia Debnam-Carey plays Milla in Apple Cider Vinegar, a young influencer with cancer who is an amalgamation of real-life people.The show's disclaimer emphasizes that 'certain characters and events have been created or fictionalised' and that 'the series is not a biopic'.The legal action against Gibson stemmed from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation alleging she had misled consumers by falsely claiming to have cancer. 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 $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.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. She was first fined $30,000 in costs following the civil case. The Federal Court in Melbourne handed down an additional fine of $410,000 — $10,000 less than The Whole Pantry cookbook and app made, according to CAV's claims.$50,000 for failing to donate proceeds from the launch of The Whole Pantry app$90,000 for failing to donate other company profitsBy 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
Belle Gibson Apple Cider Vinegar Netflix Wellness Scam Cancer Fraud Legal Ramifications Australian Consumer Law CAV The Whole Pantry Real-Life Story
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