The fraudster who lied to fans with cancer: Netflix releases Apple Cider Vinegar series about one of the most scandalous bloggers in history

The American streaming service Netflix has released the miniseries Apple Cider Vinegar. An interesting feature of the film is that it is based on real events and reveals the story of the most scandalous Internet celebrity Belle Gibson, who profited from fans with cancer.

According to Metro, the project stars Caitlyn Dever, Alicia Debnam-Carey, and Aisha Dee. It is noted that the screenwriter of the six-episode film, Samantha Strauss, created a confusing plot to best convey the "jumps" of the fraudulent blogger between fiction and reality.

Interestingly, instead of the usual disclaimer: "Based on a true story", the inscription appears at the beginning of each episode: "This is a true story based on a lie," and then: "The following is inspired by a true story. Specific characters and events are fictionalized."

"Apple Cider Vinegar" tells the story of two girls who promoted "natural therapy" to treat cancer. First, the audience is introduced to journalist Mila Blake, who was diagnosed with sarcoma (a malignant connective tissue tumor) at the age of 22, so she decided to start her own blog, talking about the disease. However, on social media, the girl promoted rather strange "alternative" methods of treatment, where instead of drugs, she used a plant-based diet, juices, and natural supplements. The prototype of this character in real life was Jessica Ainscow, who died of the disease at the age of 30.

In the series, Belle Gibson becomes obsessed with Milla Blake, so she first starts following her online and then decides to start her own business. She borrowed the journalist's experience of fighting cancer and her way of communicating, then created her own website and became a "best friend" to her followers. Although the characters were each other's main competitors, they promoted the same thing - "alternative medicine."

The third important character, who is entirely fictional, is Lucy. She reflects some of Belle Gibson's followers who, because of her, abandoned conventional cancer treatment and started using alternative medicine. In addition, the series Apple Cider Vinegar shows in detail the work of journalists Bo Donnelly and Nick Toscano, who exposed the blogger's lies.

The story of Belle Gibson

In early 2009, an Australian girl named Belle Gibson registered on an online forum where she had been posting ordinary posts about the daily life of teenagers for a long time. At one point, however, the subject matter of her personal blog changed dramatically. Gibson stated that she had been unsuccessfully vaccinated, which caused two tumors in her brain. She wrote that she was only 20 years old and had no more than four months to live.

Later, the blogger started a personal Instagram page, where she said she was fighting cancer with a healthy diet. According to her, in order to recover from the deadly disease, one has only to give up sugar and gluten. The Australian's blog began to attract the attention of netizens, and the number of her subscribers grew rapidly. That's why she decided to launch The Whole Pantry, a healthy eating app that topped the Australian App Store in 2013. The app was downloaded about 200 thousand times, and Penguin even published her book.

In the summer of 2014, Belle Gibson announced that she had been diagnosed with tumors in her liver, spleen, and uterus. At the time, she promised that she would donate a quarter of her book sales to charity, and that she had already donated the $300,000 she earned with the app to good causes. She became more and more popular, but this "fairy tale" began to fall apart in 2015.

Then Fairfax Media learned that the funds that Belle Gibson allegedly donated to charity were never received. The Australian stated that the blogger had also lied about her age, as she was only 17 when she started the blog. Journalists began checking the information about the girl and found that they could not find accurate information about where she was examined and who diagnosed her with cancer. Initially, Gibson did not comment on these investigations, but later she said: "It's all a complete lie. I'm still bouncing between what I made up and what's real."

Her app was removed from Apple, and the book was removed from the shelves. In 2017, the girl was accused of violating Australian consumer protection laws. The blogger was fined $410,000, but two years later she was back in court because she hadn't paid a penny. Gibson was last seen in public in 2020.

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