Topline
An early social media influencer, her fake cancer diagnosis and the untangling of a complicated web of lies will play out in the Netflix original series “Apple Cider Vinegar,” a drama inspired by the real-life story of wellness guru Belle Gibson and the lies that skyrocketed her to fame in the early 2010s.
Kaitlyn Dever in “Apple Cider Vinegar.”
Courtesy of NetflixKey Facts
The show, due to release Feb. 6, is inspired by “The Woman Who Fooled the World,” a book by Australian journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano that detailed Gibson’s story.
Gibson, who grew an online business using social media that included a health and wellness mobile app and accompanying cookbook, made her career by convincing her following she’d cured a range of health issues—including a brain cancer diagnosis that gave her months to live—via a healthy diet, exercise and holistic medicine.
Gibson reportedly claimed her health issues were brought on by a negative reaction to the Gardasil HPV vaccine, that she briefly died during a medical procedure and that her cancer spread to her spleen, liver, uterus and blood—but that it was cured by fruits, vegetables and natural remedies.
Weeks before her cookbook, “The Whole Pantry,” was set to be released in the U.S. and U.K. in 2015, reporters from The Age, an Australian newspaper, launched their investigation into the self-proclaimed cancer survivor and wellness promoter and found “everything was based on a litany of falsehoods.”
As Gibson’s deception started to unravel, charities for which she claimed to have raised money said they never received any, theories emerged that she suffered from a form of Munchausen’s syndrome and she was hit with more than $1 million in fines after a federal court judge found she knowingly deceived cancer patients.
In 2015, she admitted to Australian Women’s Weekly that “none of it is true.”
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Kaitlyn Dever in “Apple Cider Vinegar.”
Courtesy Of NetflixCrucial Quote
“At first, many of her followers jumped to her defense, suspecting a conspiracy by Big Pharma and Big Medicine, but then the tide of public opinion shifted to being adverse,” “The Woman Who Fooled the World” reviewer Ian Freckelton wrote. “Gibson went from being adored to being reviled. Ruin and prosecution were at hand.”
What To Watch For
“Apple Cider Vinegar” releases Feb. 6. Though the main character shares Gibson’s name, Netflix maintains the show is a “work of fiction” that is a “true-ish story based on a lie.” The show is not a biopic or documentary.
Tangent
In addition to detailing Gibson’s deception, “The Woman Who Fooled The World” is an expose about the lure of alternative cancer treatments and the wellness cottage industry thriving on social media. A wellness culture movement that has boomed on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms has also been slammed for its harmful effects—from promoting unhealthy eating habits to selling scam or harmful products and even demonizing proven medical treatments like hormonal birth control and vaccines. In some cases, like during the height of the COVID pandemic, wellness influencers used their platforms to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories, including anti-vax sentiment. Several influencers have been hit with lawsuits over deceptive marketing and false claims, including Brittany Dawn, Adi Halevy and Yogev Malul and Brian “Liver King” Johnson.
Big Number
$6.32 trillion. That’s how much the worldwide wellness industry was worth in 2023, according to the Global Wellness Institute, a portion of which is fueled by social media.
Further Reading
Further Viewing
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