Netflix's new series Apple Cider Vinegar opens with a disclaimer: 'This is a true story based on a lie.' The show dramatises the rise and fall of Belle Gibson, an Australian influencer who faked terminal brain cancer and built a wellness empire on the lie. Creator Samantha Strauss included the disclaimer to address concerns that Gibson might profit from the adaptation, stating, 'She’s not part of this; she’s not being paid.'
Gibson amassed millions of Instagram followers in the early 2010s by claiming a healthy diet had cured her brain cancer. She launched a successful recipe app, The Whole Pantry, published a cookbook, and claimed to donate profits—reportedly over A$1 million—to charities. In reality, she never had cancer and donated only A$7,000 of the A$300,000 she had claimed. The fraud had real-world consequences, as some followers with cancer abandoned conventional medicine for alternative treatments.
The series is 'inspired by' the book The Woman Who Fooled The World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, who broke the story in 2015. Strauss optioned the book, and Netflix greenlit the series in 2022. The show explores not only Gibson's deception but also the rise of social media influencers and the allure of wellness culture, as well as the toll of cancer diagnoses and the appeal of alternative medicine.
The production comes after controversy over Netflix's Baby Reindeer, which faced a US$170 million defamation lawsuit after being billed as 'a true story' despite fictionalised elements. Apple Cider Vinegar is marketed as 'true-ish,' and many key details from Donelly and Toscano's reporting—such as Gibson's troubled childhood and her online fabrication of illnesses—are faithfully recreated in the series.
