Netflix's new true story-inspired drama mini-series Apple Cider Vinegar follows Australian wellness influencer Belle Gibson, who built an online empire after claiming that she cured her terminal brain cancer through health and wellness. After releasing a successful mobile app The Whole Pantry and a cookbook of the same name, Belle was exposed as a con artist. In reality, Belle never had cancer and her brand was built on a lie.
But where is the real Belle Gibson now? Here's all we know.
What happened to Belle Gibson?
In 2015, investigative journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano exposed Belle's lies about her philanthropy and published their findings about her lack of charitable donations.
Belle eventually admitted to lying about having cancer in an interview with Australia's The Weekly. "None of it's true," she told the publication.
"I am still jumping between what I think I know and what is reality," she said. "I have lived it and I'm not really there yet."
She later gave an interview with 60 Minutes Australia and said she once believed that she had brain cancer after a man called Mark Johns, who told her he was an immunologist and neurologist, said she had a Stage 4 brain tumour.
"(Once) I received the definitive, 'No, you do not have cancer,' then that was something I had to come to terms with," she said. "That takes a lot, and it was really traumatizing and I was feeling a huge amount of grief," added Belle, before clarifying that her grief was brought on by the fact that she was lied to. "I felt like I had been taken for a ride," she said. "It took me a lot to unpack that. And once I was strong enough, I was ready to come out to speak with my community about it."
© Ben King/NetflixIn April 2017, Belle and her company were issued a court order by the Federal Court of Australia, which stated that the company had engaged in misleading conduct by claiming "a large part" of earnings from the Whole Pantry app would be given to charities or good causes. She was ordered to pay $410,000 in relation to her "unconscionable conduct".
Belle's home was raided in January 2020 in search of assets to pay the fine, per ABC. Another raid was carried out in May 2021, per The Guardian.
© Ben King/NetflixWhere is Belle Gibson now?
In 2020, ABC reported that Belle had been "adopted" by an Ethiopian ethnic group, the Oromo community, and had been using the name Sabontu. In a video, Belle is seen wearing a headscarf and tells the interviewer it was a blessing to be adopted by the Oromo community.
Apple Cider Vinegar is available to stream on Netflix.
