Belle Gibson's downfall explained and the real journalists who exposed fraudster
Apple Cider Vinegar is on Netflix and the series follows the downfall of scammer Belle Gibson, who lied about having brain cancer.
Apple Cider Vinegar is on Netflix and the series follows the downfall of scammer Belle Gibson, who lied about having brain cancer.Kaitlyn Dever as Belle in Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar has finally arrived on Netflix and the series is based on the true story of Australian scammer, Belle Gibson (played by Kaitlyn Dever). In the series, Belle abuses the trust of her growing online community by lying about curing her 'cancer' with holistic remedies.
She made up the cancer story to gain sympathy and support from her followers and as the lies continued to grow, she launched a phone app called The Whole Pantry. The app included recipes and tips for people suffering from terminal illnesses.
Her rival, Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey), had a friend called Chanelle (Aisha Dee) who worked as a journalist and she was starting to grow suspicious of Belle. When she finally found out Belle had been lying to everyone, she and a number of other journalists made it their mission to publicly expose her.
While Chanelle was not the real journalist who exposed Belle, there is plenty of insight from the real writers who brought her lies into the spotlight and held her accountable for her actions.
Here is all you need to know about how Belle Gibson got caught and what happened to her.
Belle Gibson leaving court (Image:
BBC)Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano were the real writers who exposed Belle Gibson and they have since written a book about the wellness entrepreneur’s downfall, called The Woman Who Fooled the World.
The two journalists were the first to investigate Gibson, revealing in 2015 the young Instagram star had raised substantial funds for charity with the help of her followers but had not donated the money.
This deception led people to question the health claims that formed the foundation of The Whole Pantry.
When the journalists were trying to expose the truth, they admitted it was hard to get friends and family to open up to them.
Nick Toscano told The Guardian Australia: "Her name was poison. I can’t think of another story I’ve covered that’s been so difficult to get people to speak to me.”
Beau Donelly added how they were shut down by "dozens of people" and were "threatened with lawsuits".
Mark Coles Smith as Justina and Richard Davies as Sean in Apple Cider VinegarGibson had refused to be interviewed, however the pair did secure on-the-record interviews with her grandmother and estranged mother.
Like in the series, Nick and Beau emailed Gibson a list of 21 questions, asking why she had failed to make promised donations to charity. They also asked for clarification about her supposed brain cancer diagnosis.
It was the emails and phone calls Gibson made on that day in 2015 that led to her exposure.
Just 10 minutes after Gibson received the list of questions, she started frantically calling charities, promising them money.
The pair's book explains: "She called the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Footscray. She spoke to its director of fundraising for 15 minutes, apologised for the misunderstanding, and promised to pay them $20,000.
"She transferred $1000 to One Girl, the charity that had been chasing her for its promised donation for more than a year, and then sent a screenshot of the internet banking receipt from her phone to its CEO. She fired off emails to the other charities, too."
Aisha Dee as Chanelle in Apple Cider VinegarThe next day, she replied to the journalists' email but failed to answer any of their questions properly, missing out specific yet basic details.
The journalists recalled: "Gibson kept spruiking her charity work, wrote about her sacrifices for others, and her support for those less fortunate. This was odd.
"Usually, when people are caught out like this, and a reporter comes knocking, they say very little. Or they bunker down and say nothing at all.
"Gibson, on the other hand, attempted to explain away the fact that she kept money raised for charity. She said it had something to do with 'cash flow' problems."
The two journalists sent Gibson a follow-up email, repeating questions she had failed to answer, but as she still continued to swerve the questions, the first article was published about Belle failing to make donations to multiple charities.
She quickly made front-page news and as more revelations came to light, her cover had finally been blown.
Nick is a multi-award-winning journalist based in Melbourne and Beau is a multi-award-winning journalist who covered social affairs for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Apple Cider Vinegar is on Netflix
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