This article contains SPOILERS for Apple Cider Vinegar!
The miniseriesApple Cider Vinegartells the true-ish story of Australian scammer Belle Gibson’s life between 2009 and 2015, raising the questions of what happened after reporters exposed her lies. Netflix has gained a reputation for its true crime content, andApple Cider Vinegaris a great addition to its catalog. The show starring Kaitlyn Dever issimilar to Netflix’sInventing Anna, as they both follow a pretty young woman who lied and ripped people off to get ahead.
However, the 2025 miniseries has more dark humor and an edgy tone to the story that has led topositive reviews forApple Cider Vinegar. The show diverges from the norm in one other way as well. Though it’s based on a true story,the series doesn’t include slides at the end which reveal the characters’ fate after Gibson is exposed. However, since 2015, Gibson has gone to court, evaded consequences, and started going by a different name.
Apple Cider Vinegarwas inspired by the true crime bookThe Woman Who Fooled The Worldby Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano.
Belle Gibson Admitted To Lying About Her Cancer Claims In 2015
Penguin Random House Stopped Printing The Whole Pantry
After getting exposed by investigative journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano inThe Sydney Morning Herald, Belle Gibson providedThe Australian Women’s Weeklywith an exclusive interview where she admitted to lying about her cancer claims for the first time ever.When asked directly whether she had cancer previously or in the present, she said, “No, none off it’s true.”However, the actual statements in the article are frustratingly contradictory and push blame onto others.
The biggest takeaway fromThe Australian Women’s Weeklyinterview is that Belle Gibson is an unreliable narrator whose words cannot be trusted.
In the same interview, Belle Gibson claims she received cancer diagnoses in 2009 and 2014, explaining it as something she held true about herself, alongside being tall, blonde, and having hazel eyes. Clair Weaver states that Gibson’s friends reached out to warn of her lies. The scammer also makes many statements in the interview that scream of exaggeration. The biggest takeaway from theWomen’s Weeklyinterview is that Belle Gibson is an unreliable narrator whose words cannot be trusted.
Belle Gibson Was Fined Almost $410,000 For The False Claims About Her Donations To Charity
Belle Gibson Still Owes Money To The Australian Government
At the end of the Netflix miniseries, theApple Cider Vinegarmain character cheekily tells the audience that they can go google what happened next, rather than doing the whole “what happened after” segment that’s traditional intrue crime TV shows. It turns out, the Australian government finally took Belle Gibson to court in 2017.
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Gibson went before the Australian Federal Court for breaking consumer laws. She’d promised to donate proceeds from her The Whole Pantry book and app. However, the charities and proclaimed recipients didn’t have any record of her donations. According to theHerald Sun,the Australian courts hit her with these fines (in AUD):
Added together, her fines were $410,000 AUD, which is approximately $256,500 USD. This is much less than the $1.1 million AUD she could have faced. The judge barred her from saying that she was diagnosed with brain cancer before August 17, 2025, and she can’t say that she cured her cancer by rejecting conventional medicine. However, they gave her leniency in one big way –Belle Gibson wasn’t required to make a public apology.
Despite the fines, Gibson wouldn’t pay, according toAustralian Broadcasting Corporation, claiming that she couldn’t afford to pay the $410,000. However, the consumer watchdog found that she’d spent $91,000 between 2017 and 2019 on things like clothes and traveling to Bali and Africa. In 2021, the Victorian Sheriff’s office raided her house under a seizure and sale warrant to recooperate some of the outstanding fines, which have reached over $500,000 AUD because of penalties and interest (viaAustralian Broadcasting Corporation). Unfortunately, as of the time ofApple Cider Vinegar’s release, she hadn’t paid anything, according to theHerald Sun.
Belle Gibson Has Largely Stayed Out Of The Public Eye Since Her Scandal
Belle Gibson’s Exact Whereabouts Are Unknown
Since the news of Belle Gibson’s scam broke in 2015, the fraudster has maintained a private life. In 2020, theAustralian Broadcasting Corporationreported that Gibson had integrated herself into the Etheopia’s Oromo community in Melbourne, Australia, going by the name Sabontu. Although she’d been involved since 2016, the community was allegedly unaware of her identity until January 2020. However, according toThe Australian Women’s Weekly,the leader of the community asked her to leave in 2021 after learning her identity, claiming to the publication that she was “exploiting the good heart of the people in our community.”
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It’s unclear what exactly she has been doing since leaving the Oromo community. In February 2024, A Current Affair caught up with her when she was at a gas station and living in the Northern suburbs of Australia. When asked about the fine by the news reporter, she claimed toA Current Affairthat she hadn’t paid her fine because she couldn’t afford it, and she refused to answer the questions about whether her victims deserved an apology. Based on her desire to remain out of the public eye, it’s highly unlikely she will ever comment on Netflix’sApple Cider Vinegar.
