Wellness influencer exposed for faking cancer dodges authorities a decade later: documentary

A disgraced Instagram influencer liable for shaking up Australia’s online wellness assemblage by peddling fraudulent claims is sparking renewed outrage pursuing a decennary of evading authorities.

Belle Gibson dodged transgression charges aft pushing fraudulent claims connected her online wellness blog, resulting successful 1 of Australia’s astir prolific scams and generating choler from the nationalist and victims of the scam. 

The Australian wellness blogger is the latest taxable of Netflix's melodramatic limited-series "Apple Cider Vinegar."

The bid follows the 26-year-old's travel from azygous motherhood to planetary fame successful 2013 arsenic she chronicled her diagnosis with terminal encephalon cancer, sharing updates with viewers and yet announcing her betterment from the deadly tumor. 

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Belle Gibson arrives astatine the Federal Court successful Melbourne, Australia, connected May 14, 2019.  (David Crosling/AAP Image via AP)

She utilized her occurrence communicative to propulsion her look app and cookbook, "The Whole Pantry," which boasted 200,000 Apple Store downloads successful 1 month. Gibson promised buyers that a information of the proceeds would beryllium donated to foundation and the household of a kid with cancer. 

In 2015, the Instagram prima did a stunning about-face, admitting she had ne'er been diagnosed with the terminal unwellness and fundamentally exposing herself arsenic a fraud to her fans. 

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Two years later, Australia’s Consumer Affairs Victoria discovered that lone 2% of the profits were donated and determined that Gibson had breached user law. The country’s national tribunal ordered Gibson to wage the remaining 410,000 Australian dollars – or $261,000 – and restricted her from making further wellness claims. 

In a missive to the court, Gibson admitted to being jobless, successful indebtedness and incapable to pay. According to Australian law, Gibson cannot garbage to wage based connected her fiscal situation, and a tribunal bid could let authorities to instrumentality further measures to get the money. 

Eight years later, authorities are inactive attempting to cod the fines – and imaginable involvement – from Gibson, but did not corroborate whether immoderate funds had been recovered.

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Belle Gibson arrives astatine the Federal Court successful Melbourne, Australia connected June 20, 2019. (David Crosling/AAP Image via AP)

"Consumer Affairs Victoria has continued to undertake actions to enforce the indebtedness owed by Annabelle Natalie Gibson (Belle Gibson) nether tribunal order," the bureau said successful a connection to Fox News Digital. 

Gibson did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital’s petition for comment. 

While Gibson has yet to beryllium held afloat accountable for her actions, her scams person had consequences successful Australia. 

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In 2022, authorities officials rewrote the country’s codification regarding therapeutic wellness claims pursuing nationalist outcry regarding the fallout from Gibson’s mendacious claims. 

Anyone recovered to beryllium successful usurpation of the caller guidelines could look millions of dollars successful fines, and those with wellness expertise are incapable to endorse companies pedaling goods to consumers. Paid testimonials for related products are besides prohibited. 

"We won't beryllium giving up, and we privation justness for those impacted," a Victorian Government spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

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Belle Gibson leveraged her fashionable Instagram relationship to peddle her mendacious claims of however her steadfast manner cured her fake crab diagnosis. (iStock)

The melodramatic series, dubbed a "true-ish story, based connected a lie," did not premiere without controversy. While online communities person praised its depiction of harmful wellness culture, others judge the amusement hits excessively adjacent to home. 

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A Queensland man, Col Ainscough, mislaid his woman and girl – a wellness influencer – to crab and believes the amusement uses fictional characters to picture his family, issuing a connection condemning the production.

The amusement was "insensitive and intelligibly profit-driven," Ainscough said.

Netflix did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital's petition for comment. 

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Although the real-life communicative of Gibson’s scam has yet to scope a last resolution, Australian authorities support that they are inactive pursuing justness a decennary later. 

"Behind the caller dramatization of Ms. Gibson's actions [are] a precise existent and agelong way of businesses and individuals who person been wounded and swindled," a Victorian Government spokesperson said successful a connection to Fox News Digital. "We won't beryllium giving up and we privation justness for those impacted. The good volition not lapse and Ms. Gibson volition beryllium pursued by the applicable agencies."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.