• "Apple Cider Vinegar" tells the story of an Australian influencer who faked having terminal cancer.
• The Netflix series looks at the dramatic rise and fall of Belle Gibson and her wellness empire.
• While a large part of the series is true, the creators took some creative license with the story.

Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" makes a few things clear from the very beginning.

First, Belle Gibson — the Australian fraudster portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever in the series — is not profiting from the show's use of her name and likeness.

Second, the story is "true-ish." While large parts of the series do reflect real events, the makers took creative license with certain parts, with some characters and events having been fictionalized.

Below, we separate fact from fiction in the new hit show.

Gibson admitted to lying about having cancer.

Gibson crafted her wellness empire on the premise that she had cured what she claimed was her terminal brain cancer through healthy eating and alternative remedies.

But the show depicts how her story began to unravel in 2015 when journalists from Australia's The Age newspaper began an investigation into her business and charity work.

Gibson would confess to Australian Women's Weekly later that year that she had falsified her cancer diagnosis.

The Age wasn't the only publication looking into Gibson.

The show is based on reporters Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano's 2017 book, "The Woman Who Fooled The World," and focuses on their investigation into Gibson for The Age newspaper.

However, they weren't the only ones digging into the former influencer. Richard Guilliatt, a reporter at The Australian, also had suspicions about her story.

After Donelly and Toscano published their piece about Gibson not donating money raised for charities in March 2015, Guilliatt rushed to get his exposé of Gibson, which cast doubt on her cancer claims, live.

Speaking in the 2021 documentary "Bad Influencer: The Great Insta Con," Guilliatt said that he was spurred into looking into Gibson's claims as his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer years earlier.

Gibson's history of lying about her health began in online skateboarding forums.

As a teenager, Gibson really was involved in the skateboarding community and used online chat forums to share bogus health claims, including that she had "died" for several minutes on an operating table.

Milla Blake isn't a real person. However, her story bears similarities to that of Jessica Ainscough.

In "Apple Cider Vinegar," Gibson's rise as a wellness influencer plays out against the story of Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey).

While Milla isn't real, her story seemingly draws from the life of Jess Ainscough, an Australian magazine editor turned influencer.

In 2008, Ainscough was diagnosed with a type of sarcoma and refused her doctor's recommendation to amputate her arm, opting instead for a type of chemotherapy, before eventually turning to alternative methods.

Ainscough, who went by the self-coined nickname "The Wellness Warrior," published the book "Make Peace With Your Plate" in 2013.

Ainscough died at age 30 in 2015.

Gibson really tried to clear her name in a now infamous "60 Minutes Australia" interview.

Gibson was confronted about her claims in a 2015 interview with journalist Tara Brown on "60 Minutes Australia."

It marked the first time Gibson had spoken out about her controversy since admitting that she did not have, nor had ever had, cancer in an April 2015 interview with Australian Women's Weekly.

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Gibson — who was reportedly paid A$75,000 (around $49,000) for the appearance — failed to give a straight answer about her real age and claimed that she had been duped into believing she was dying through misdiagnoses.

The interview was widely derided at the time of its airing.

The Hirsch Institute appears to based on Gerson therapy

The Hirsch Institute — where Milla gets her treatment plan from in the show — isn't real. But it appears to have been based on Gerson therapy, a pseudoscientific treatment named after its creator, the German doctor Max Gerson.

As BI previously reported, the therapy involves drinking 13 glasses of juice a day alongside coffee enemas to "clean" the liver and colon.

Cancer institutes around the world say there is no scientific evidence to support the use of Gerson therapy.

Gibson's mother really did speak out against her.

As depicted in "Apple Cider Vinegar," Gibson's mother, Natalie Dal-Bello, gave a tell-all interview about her daughter.

Speaking to Women's Weekly in 2015, Dal-Bello said of her daughter: "I can't tell you how embarrassed we are about what she has done."

"We sincerely wish to apologize to anyone who was deceived by Belle. For what small part we played in her life, 
we would like to say sorry," she continued. "She's got to look inside her 
own soul. The only way she is going to get forgiveness is to stop playing the victim card and spend the next few years doing nothing but charity work for cancer victims."

• "Apple Cider Vinegar" is the latest true crime show to have Netflix viewers obsessed.
• Fans of the series should check out similar Netflix hits like "Inventing Anna" and "The Tinder Swindler."
• Peacock's "Anatomy of Lies" and the Hulu film "Not Okay" share similarities with the show too.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" is Netflix's latest true crime drama, following the success of "Baby Reindeer."

Viewers may notice many of the themes crossover with other true crime dramas of recent years, like "Anatomy of Lies" and "The Dropout."

"Apple Cider Vinegar" tells the story of Belle Gibson, an Australian health and wellness influencer who lied about having cancer and donating money from her business, The Whole Pantry, to charities.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" includes multiple perspectives, including that of the journalists who exposed Gibson and loved ones affected by her lies. The show also tries unpack how Gibson became trapped in her own charade.

Here are other movies and shows to watch if you liked "Apple Cider Vinegar."

"Not Okay"

If you want a story about a narcissistic influencer who lies about a traumatic experience to gain fame, look no further than "Not Okay."

This 2022 film is fictional and stars Zoey Deutch as Danni Sanders, an aspiring magazine writer who lies about visiting France during a terrorist attack.

When Danni gains attention for being a victim, she keeps the lie going for the attention.

"Not Okay" is a funny, cringe-inducing satirical comedy that pokes fun at social media and cancel culture.

The movie is available to stream on Hulu.

"Inventing Anna"

Netflix's scripted true crime series "Inventing Anna" was a huge hit, and created fresh buzz around the show's subject, Anna Sorokin.

The miniseries, created by Shonda Rhimes, is inspired by a 2018 New York Magazine article about Sorokin, who was convicted of grand larceny and theft services for posing as a German heiress and conning banks, hotels and individuals of more than $200,000.

While the series received mixed reviews, Julia Garner was praised for her performance as Sorokin.

The limited series is available to stream on Netflix.

"Dr. Death"

If you're looking for another health-focused true crime drama, you might enjoy "Dr. Death."

The anthology series adapts stories about medical malpractice from the "Dr. Death" podcast. One episode told the story of the former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after 33 of his patients were significantly injured and two died.

The series also features a cast of well-known actors, including Joshua Jackson, Christian Slater, Mandy Moore, and Alec Baldwin.

The first two seasons are available to stream on Peacock.

"Anatomy of Lies"

In May 2022, Vanity Fair published a series of articles about Elisabeth Finch, a TV writer who lied about being diagnosed with bone cancer and other medical issues.

Finch wrote multiple essays about her experience with the illness and made herself look sick to keep up the lie. She admitted the truth in an interview with The Ankler half a year after the Vanity Fair exposé.

"Anatomy of Lies" is a docuseries that dives into the scandal with interviews from those affected, including Finch's ex wife and writers who worked with her.

The docuseries is available to stream on Peacock.

"The Tinder Swindler"

Similarly to "Apple Cider Vinegar," "The Tinder Swindler" explores how a person's lies can affect others.

In the documentary, women claim a man named Shimon Hayut posed as a billionaire, Simon Leviev, on dating apps and contacted them asking for money to escape his enemies. Instead, he spent it on his luxurious lifestyle.

Hayut denied the allegations in an interview with CNN after the show aired.

The documentary is available to stream on Netflix.

"The Wolf of Wall Street"

"Wolf of Wall Street," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, has parallels with "Apple Cider Vinegar."

The 2013 film, directed by Martin Scorsese and nominated for five Oscars in 2014, is about Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), a stockbroker who defrauds investors out of millions.

Like Gibson in "Apple Cider Vinegar," DiCaprio's Belfort's schemes come crashing down around him. Ultimately, the FBI arrests him.

The movie is available to stream on Paramount+

"The Dropout"

"The Dropout" is a miniseries about the health tech company Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes.

Holmes started the blood test startup Theranos after she dropped out of Stanford as age 19. It was valued at $9 billion, and in 2015 Holmes became the youngest self-made female billionaire.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into the validity of Theranos' blood test machines, kicking off a series of events that led to Holmes being ousted from the company and convicted of defrauding investors.

The limited series is available to stream on Hulu.

"I Care A Lot"

In the fictional film "I Care A Lot," Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is a con artist who scams the elderly.

Grayson becomes the legal guardian of older people and then takes their money after putting them in an assisted living facility.

In the film, Grayson puts herself in danger after accidentally targeting a woman with a criminal background.

The movie is available to stream on Netflix.

"The Girl from Plainville"

"The Girl From Plainville" depicts the case of Michelle Carter, a teenager who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after persuading her friend Conrad Roy to die by suicide in 2015.

Most of Carter and Roy's conversations were via text messages, including the moments when Carter encouraged Roy to die. The show re-enacts the text messages as in-person conversations between Elle Fanning, who plays Carter, and Colton Ryan, who plays Roy.

The limited series is available to stream on Hulu.

• Australian authorities are still pursuing Belle Gibson for the unpaid fine she owes from 2017.
• Gibson was ordered to pay a fine of A$410,000 after being found to have broken consumer law.
• A new Netflix series tells a fictionalized account of how she lied to followers about having and curing cancer.

Following the release of Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar," Australian authorities are continuing their efforts to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding fines, penalties, and interest from former wellness guru Belle Gibson.

"Apple Cider Vinegar," which debuted earlier this month, tells a fictionalized version of how Gibson lied to friends, online followers, and major corporations like Apple and publisher Penguin about curing what she said was her terminal brain cancer through healthy eating and alternative therapies.

Gibson, who admitted not having cancer following an investigation into her business by Melbourne newspaper The Age in 2015, was found guilty of five breaches of Australian consumer law in 2017.

Court documents viewed by Business Insider show that an Australian Federal Court judge ordered Gibson to pay a fine of A$410,000 (around $260,000), plus A$30,000 (about $19,000) in legal costs at the time.

However, Gibson said in subsequent court appearances that she was unable to pay the money, ABC reported.

Although Gibson's case appeared to have been marked as finalized and abandoned in 2021, Jacinta Allan, the Premier of the Australian state of Victoria, has confirmed that local authorities are still working to recover the fine.

"Behind the TV stories, behind the dramatisation, are real people who have had their lives devastated by the actions of this individual," Allan said, per The Guardian. "Consumer Affairs Victoria is continuing to pursue this, particularly in the context of the orders that have been made by the court."

Allan added that she was "disappointed" the matter still had not been resolved but that Consumer Affairs Victoria "won't let up."

The current outstanding balance that Gibson owes has not been disclosed. Consumer Affairs Victoria did not immediately respond to BI's request for clarification, which was sent outside regular working hours.

But after officers raided Gibson's home in Melbourne in 2021, it was reported that the fine amounted to more than A$500,000 (around $317,000), including penalties and interest.

Gibson's case has been thrust back into the spotlight following the release of the six-part Netflix series, which has been viewed by more than 3.8 million people since its release on February 6, according to the streamer's own data.

Gibson became a global influencer in the mid-2010s as she amassed more than 200,000 followers on Instagram. She went on to create a nutrition app called "The Whole Pantry" and later a cookbook of the same name.

Following her confession to Australian Women's Weekly in 2015 that she had falsified her cancer diagnosis, Gibson has mostly kept a low profile, with the exception of her now infamous "60 Minutes Australia" interview.

• "Apple Cider Vinegar" features a controversial wellness camp called the Hirsch Institute.
• The pseudoscientific cancer treatments in the Netflix show include juices and coffee enemas.
• These treatments appear to be based on what is known as Gerson Therapy.

Viewers of "Apple Cider Vinegar" — which tells the story of Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever), an Australian influencer who faked having cancer — may be wondering if the Hirsch Institute is real.

The institute is fictionalized for the show but appears to be based on a pseudoscientific treatment called Gerson Therapy.

The institute features in the show when wellness influencer and journalist Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is diagnosed with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and flies to Mexico to attend its wellness camp. She starts a treatment plan that involves drinking different juices every hour and using coffee enemas.

Ultimately, Blake realizes that it doesn't work after her cancer spreads across her body. She reverts back to taking the treatment advised by her doctors, but it's too late and she dies toward the end of the series.

The Hirsch Institute is not real, but it is based on Gerson Therapy

Gerson Therapy is named after its creator Max Gerson, a German doctor who developed it during the 1920s and 1930s. It was first tried as a treatment for tuberculosis and migraines, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Gerson claimed that eating an organic diet of fruit and vegetables, high in potassium and low sodium, would help rid the body of toxins and return the metabolism to "normal."

The diet also included drinking 13 glasses of juice a day alongside coffee enemas to "clean" the liver and colon. People following Gerson Therapy are also required to take supplements, including vitamin B12, and potassium.

The NCI says that having too many coffee enemas can change a person's normal blood chemistry, which can stop muscles, the heart, and other organs from working.

In 1947 and 1959, the NCI examined 60 of Gerson's patients and the results "did not prove the regimen had benefit."

Cancer Research UK said that researchers in a 2014 study found that "none of the previous reports on Gerson therapy proved that it was effective." It states that an organic diet has potential benefits, but reputable scientific cancer organizations do not support it as a treatment method.

The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved Gerson therapy for cancer patients. However, some attend Gerson's Health Institute in Tijuana, Mexico, to undergo treatment — in the same way that Blake travels to the Hirsch Institute in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

According to Gerson's Health Institute, these trips cost $6,000 a week and include all of the Gerson therapy meals, juices, and enemas as well as access to an on-site medical team, patient support groups, and a private room.

Gerson's Health Institute did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

• Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" dramatizes the life of Belle Gibson, an influencer who faked having cancer.
• It depicts her relationship with Clive Rothwell, who helped her start her app The Whole Pantry.
• Here's where Rothwell is now.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" tells the story of Belle Gibson, the Australian influencer who faked having cancer and built a wellness app, The Whole Pantry, with the help of her ex Clive Rothwell.

In the show, Rothwell (Ashley Zukerman), an IT consultant, helps Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever) pay for programmers to build her app in the early 2010s. He also funds various flights and hotel stays so she can establish her wellness empire.

In the last episode, Rothwell knows that Gibson faked having cancer and profited from those who had the disease. He decides to stay with her and help her raise her son Oliver (Spencer Ellis Anderson) in the US, as his step father.

The Netflix series is adapted from a book about Gibson, "The Woman Who Fooled the World," and title cards in the series describe it as a "true-ish story based on a lie."

Some elements of Gibson and Rothwell's relationship are faithfully adapted. In the third episode, Gibson has a miscarriage, which she briefly addressed in a 2015 interview with The Australian Women's Weekly, where she "tearfully" denied allegations she faked it.

Here's what happened to Rothwell in real life.

Belle Gibson called Clive Rothwell her 'friend' in 2019

During the 2015 interview, Gibson talked about how Rothwell reacted when he learned she lied about having cancer.

She said: "He's been very stern, along the lines of, 'I just want you to acknowledge where you've fucked up and not try and smooth over that.'"

Rothwell declined to speak to the publication.

Australian outlet The Age reported that in 2019, Gibson claimed in court that she owed Rothwell $90,000 and that they lived together in Northcote, Melbourne, with her son. She said that they "did not share a romantic relationship."

Gibson also said she didn't know what job he had at the time and wasn't aware of what he earned because "that's not my business."

However, she said that he earned enough to give her $5,000 to take her son on a trip to Africa and $2,000 in cash to cover their accommodation costs.

Four years later, in November 2023, the Daily Mail Australia published pictures of Rothwell out in Melbourne with another woman, suggesting that he had parted ways with Gibson.

• Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" explores Belle Gibson's fake cancer claims and wellness empire.
• The show fictionalizes real events, focusing on Gibson's business and fraudulent health claims.
• Chanelle, a character in the show, is inspired by real-life figures linked to Gibson's story.

Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" is a fictionalized take on the story of influencer Belle Gibson, an Australian woman who built a wellness empire in the 2010s on claims that healthy living was helping her treat her terminal brain cancer. But it all fell apart when it was revealed that Gibson never had the disease at all.

In the Netflix series, Kaitlyn Dever's Belle is ultimately taken down by a pair of reporters thanks to a tip from Belle's former manager Chanelle (Aisha Dee). Things are complicated by the fact that before managing Belle, Chanelle also managed Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey) — a childhood friend who also built her brand around attempting to treat her cancer via alternative methods.

Like Milla, the Chanelle character isn't exactly the same in real life. But she shares a lot— including a first name — with the woman who is likely her real-life counterpart.

Chanelle works with both Milla and Belle in 'Apple Cider Vinegar'

In the Netflix series, Chanelle joins Milla's team after her business starts to take off to help her to secure brand deals. She meets Belle at a Cosmopolitan awards ceremony she's attending with Milla, who's up for an award in the same category as Belle (Belle wins). The three women meet at the after-party, where Chanelle and Belle bond after Milla leaves.

As Milla works on launching her juice line, Chanelle works with Belle to support the launch of her app, The Whole Pantry, on the Apple Watch. But as Chanelle is exposed to the more glamorous aspects of Belle's lifestyle, she starts to have doubts about her story.

Eventually, she confronts Belle and explicitly asks if she has brain cancer. Belle deflects, but the two seemingly come to an agreement to cancel her deal with Apple and the publishing of her cookbook. Instead, however, Belle doubles down on the lie and claims on social media that she's been diagnosed with multiple additional cancers.

After The Whole Pantry cookbook launch, Chanelle tells two reporters at The Age that Belle is a fraud. While they're unable to report any information about Belle's health, they publish a story with evidence that she hadn't followed through on multiple promised charitable donations.

Chanelle stops working with Belle, but later runs into her at Milla's funeral. (Milla, unlike Belle, actually had cancer.) Later, Chanelle is seen planting trees with Milla's father and fiancé.

Chanelle is based on one of Belle's former friends — but there are a few differences

Chanelle is likely based on Chanelle McAuliffe, though there are a few key differences between the character and the real-life woman, who told The Sunday Times she was not consulted for the Netflix series.

McAuliffe told The Sunday Times that she met Gibson at the 2013 launch party for her app, The Whole Pantry. Though she never explicitly worked with Gibson, as Chanelle does in the show, she started to suspect Gibson's claims were fraudulent after befriending her.

"She was doing this strict protocol of healing herself from cancer with nautral wellness remedies and clean eating," McAuliffe told the publication. "But she would go to the solarium, which obviously increases the risk of skin cancer, and she would get drunk at times. She was not sharing any of this with her community."

After Gibson collapsed at her son's birthday party but refused an ambulance, McAuliffe said she confronted Gibson and asked her to produce documentation that she had cancer.

When Gibson dodged the question and refused, McAuliffe went to the press, giving reporter Beau Donnelly a tip about Gibson. He and his colleague Nick Toscana then reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that Gibson had failed to follow through on multiple promised charitable donations. The pair went on to write the 2017 book "The Woman Who Fooled The World," which serves as the basis for "Apple Cider Vinegar."

In "Apple Cider Vinegar," Chanelle also works as Milla's manager, and is one of her childhood friends. In reality, McAuliffe did not work with Jess Ainscough, the real Australian influencer whose story resembles Milla's. Ainscough's manager was Yvette Luciano; Ainscough died of epithelioid sarcoma in 2015.

In real life, Gibson had little more than a tenuous connection to Aincough, too: Donnelly and Toscana report in their book that Luciano was confused to see Gibson make an appearance at Ainscough's funeral. After Ainscough's death, Yvette wrote on social media that Gibson and Ainscough were not friends, and did not have a relationship "beyond an Instagram or two."

"Apple Cider Vinegar" is streaming in full on Netflix.

• Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" was inspired by Belle Gibson, who lied about having brain cancer.
• It features fictional characters that appear to be based on real people in Gibson's life.
• Milla, a character in the show, is reminiscent of real-life wellness influencer Jess Ainscough.

Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" is a "true-ish" (in the streamer's words) story about a woman who built a wellness empire on the lie that she had cancer.

Belle Gibson, whose full name is Annabelle Natalie Gibson, claimed that she had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2009 and given a weekslong prognosis. In 2014, she launched her own nutrition app, The Whole Pantry. In 2015, reports emerged that she hadn't followed through on donations to charity — and then, she admitted that she had never had cancer.

The television series presents a fictionalized version of Gibson's story (she's played by Kaitlyn Dever). It juxtaposes her narrative against that of another wellness influencer: Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a young woman who forgoes chemotherapy and treats her cancer using alternative methods.

Unlike Gibson, there isn't a real Milla. However, her story on the show is reminiscent of the life of Jess Ainscough, a real Australian wellness influencer who died in 2015.

In 'Apple Cider Vinegar,' Milla has cancer and attempts to treat it naturally

"Apple Cider Vinegar" introduces Camilla "Milla" Blake as a young woman with a vibrant social life and journalism career in Sydney. Her diagnosis — undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma — throws her life into disarray. Milla refuses her doctor's recommendation to amputate, and instead opts for an experimental form of chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, Milla's cancer returns. However, she forgoes the recommendation to amputate again and tries to treat her cancer through natural methods. She also seeks treatment at the fictional Hirsch Institute, which promotes methods including coffee enemas and a specific diet and is reminiscent of real-life Gerson therapy.

Milla begins to blog about her treatment, eventually attracting a following that includes the show's fictionalized version of Belle Gibson. She publishes a book titled "From Hell to Well" and hosts events under her personal brand, Green Stone Healing. With the help of her friend-turned-manager Chanelle, she also nets brand deals and attempts to launch her own juice line.

Milla's cancer worsens over the years, and she turns to black salve, a dangerous, corrosive compound that is banned for sale in the United States by the FDA and is not a cancer cure. Her mother also contracts cancer and dies en route to the Hirsch Institute in Mexico, where she intended to pursue the same treatment as her daughter.

After a video of Milla goes viral and reveals to the public that the cancer has returned to her arm, she returns to her prior doctor. He informs her that the cancer has metastasized and is too far progressed to treat.

"If it was an option, I'd be returning to conventional medicine," Milla writes to her followers following the news. "But it's not. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I believed it was my fault. It wasn't. I believed it was up to me to cure myself. It wasn't. I thought I could become whole through diet, and by listening to my own instincts. But I was wrong."

Milla dies. The fictional Belle Gibson attends her funeral, crying loudly during the service. At the wake, she searches Milla's bedroom and attempts to console Milla's fiancé Arlo until he orders her to leave.

Milla is a fictional character, but her story is reminiscent of the real-life Jess Ainscough

Jess Ainscough was a wellness influencer who died in February 2015 at age 30, seven years after she was diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma. Ainscough's doctors recommended amputation, but she pursued chemotherapy. She later turned to alternative medicine, including Gerson Therapy, which has not been approved by the United States FDA as a treatment for cancer.

Before her diagnosis, Ainscough worked at the teen magazine Dolly. After she chose not to pursue conventional treatment, Ainscough began posting on her blog, The Wellness Warrior. She published a book titled "Make Peace with Your Plate: Change Your Life One Meal at a Time," and hosted speaking engagements.

Ainscough's mother Sharyn was diagnosed with breast cancer and died in October 2013. The Guardian reported that Sharyn also supported Gerson Therapy.

Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, the reporters who broke the story in 2015 that Gibson had not followed through on promised charitable donations, reported for the Sydney Morning Herald that Gibson attended Ainscough's funeral in March 2015, and was seen crying loudly during the service. Gibson and Ainscough had met two years prior and interacted on social media, the pair reported, but Ainscough's manager said that the two women were not friends.

Prior to her death, Ainscough was engaged to Tallon Pamenter.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" is streaming on Netflix.

• Belle Gibson was a wellness influencer who said she had brain cancer.
• In 2015, she said she did not have, nor had ever had, cancer.
• Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" tells a fictionalized version of her story. Here's where she is today.

In the early 2010s, Belle Gibson built a wellness empire on a lie.

The influencer established a platform in the early days of Instagram, creating a nutrition app called The Whole Pantry that eventually led to a cookbook of the same name. She amassed more than 200,000 followers on her now-defunct account, as well as accolades including Cosmopolitan's 2014 Fun Fearless Female Award.

The influencer claimed that she'd been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2009 and had extended her weekslong prognosis into years through natural treatments and nutrition. That lie brought in money: In 2015, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that her Whole Pantry recipe app, which cost 3.79 Australian dollars, had been purchased more than 300,000 times.

Now, Gibson's story is the basis of Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar," a series starring Kaitlyn Dever that bills itself as a "true-ish story based on a lie." The series presents a fictionalized account of Gibson's life and downfall.

Here's what happened to Gibson in real life.

Gibson's downfall began with reports she'd lied about charitable donations

The Fairfax Media reporters Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, who wrote the book "The Woman Who Fooled The World: Belle Gibson's Cancer Con," reported in 2015 that Gibson hadn't donated money she solicited online in the name of multiple charitable organizations. Gibson attributed the delay in some donations to "cash flow" problems within the business.

Gibson's cookbook publisher, Penguin Australia, subsequently dropped her book, the Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2015. Apple, which had marketed the Whole Pantry app alongside the launch of its Apple Watch, also removed it from promotions in March 2015, the publication reported.

Gibson walked back her claim that she had terminal brain cancer and was fined

In an April 2015 interview with Australian Women's Weekly, Gibson admitted that she did not have, nor had ever had, cancer.

"None of it's true," she told the publication.

"I don't want forgiveness," she said. "I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say: 'OK, she's human. She's obviously had a big life.'"

Gibson told the publication that she was told by two people, in 2009 and 2014, that she had cancer. The journalist Clair Weaver wrote that Gibson's stories about her diagnosis were "strange, involving men treating her with machines said to be capable of both diagnosing and treating cancer."

Gibson also spoke about her story in a "60 Minutes" Australia interview; the Sydney Morning Herald reported she was paid AU$75,000 for it.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported in 2017 that an Australian Federal Court judge found Gibson guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct. She was later ordered to pay a fine of AU$410,000 for five violations of Australian consumer law, including failing to donate a week's worth of app sales to the family of a boy with an inoperable brain tumor, the ABC reported.

Gibson appeared in court in May 2019, during which she said she was unable to pay the fine, the ABC reported. She said again during a June 2019 court appearance that she was unable to pay, per the ABC.

In January 2020, Victoria Sheriff's Office officers raided Gibson's home in a "search and sale" effort to recoup the money after she failed to pay the amount, which at the time totaled more than AU$500,000 including penalties and interest, the ABC reported. Authorities raided her home again in May 2021, The Guardian reported.

Gibson said in 2020 that she'd been 'adopted' by the Ethiopian community in Melbourne

Years later, Gibson appeared to have embedded herself in the Ethiopian Oromo community in Melbourne. In an October 2019 video published on social media, which was reported on by The Age and the ABC in January 2020, Gibson reportedly spoke Oromo and introduced herself as Sabontu, saying that she felt "blessed to be adopted" by the community.

Members of the community told the ABC that they hadn't been aware of Gibson's social media past before the raid on her home that month.

Today, Gibson doesn't maintain a public social media presence. The Daily Telegraph Australia reported that Gibson said she was "not interested in a chat" when reached by phone.

An email listed on a LinkedIn profile that matches Gibson's information didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" is now streaming on Netflix.