Apple Cider Vinegar, now streaming on Netflix, recounts the true tale of Australian fraudster Belle Gibson (portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever), who fabricated a brain tumour diagnosis and capitalised on it by launching an app named The Whole Pantry. The brand provided recipes and advice for terminally ill individuals, with Belle leveraging her substantial social media following to advocate alternative treatments over legitimate therapies.
She pledged that the profits from her brand would be donated to various charities, but instead used the funds to support her extravagant lifestyle. Journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano eventually unmasked Belle, first for her false charity pledges and then for her bogus cancer diagnosis.
They penned a book about their investigations titled The Woman Who Fooled the World. In a 2015 interview, Belle confessed to concocting the entire story, leading to legal action against her for allegedly violating Australian consumer law.
In September 2017, Gibson was fined $410,000 for making false claims about her charitable donations. As of April 2019, Gibson had not paid the fine and authorities sought to charge her with contempt of court.
She risked imprisonment if she failed to appear in court in May.
Did Belle Gibson end up in prison?
As of mid-September 2019, Gibson had still not paid and Consumer Affairs Victoria continued to pursue enforcement of the penalty.
In a letter disclosed by the Federal Court in 2017, Gibson revealed she was $170,000 in debt and had only $5,000 to her name. Her residence was subjected to multiple raids by the Sheriff’s Office as they attempted to recover the unpaid fines, with the most recent raid occurring in May 2021.
As for whether Belle ended up behind bars, the answer is no.
Currently, it remains unclear if Belle has settled the fines, but she has managed to steer clear of jail time. Reports suggest that her partner, Clive Rothwell (played by Ashley Zukerman), assisted in covering her legal costs and provided financial support for some time following her public exposure.
Discussing the decision not to conclude Apple Cider Vinegar with Belle’s imprisonment, director Samantha Strauss stated: “in reality, Belle hasn’t paid her fine, you know, never went to jail” She added: “And I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. It feels a bit too traditional’…We don’t need to know all that detail, we can all Google it; hopefully [go] off down the rabbit hole.”
Apple Cider Vinegar is on Netflix