Netflix has been blasted for ‘giving airtime’ to a cancer-faking influencer with their new series Apple Cider Vinegar. 

Fans of the streamer have complained that the show is ‘glamourising scammers’ and ‘giving them the ick.’

Fraudster Belle Gibson, now 33, claimed she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at the age of 20 and given just months to live. 

She later launched an Instagram account stating that she had cured the disease by healthy eating after other traditional treatments failed. She also fraudulently alleged that she had donated $300,000 to charity. 

Set during the early days of Instagram, Apple Cider Vinegar follows two young women who set out to cure their life-threatening illnesses through health and wellness, influencing their global online communities along the way. 

Netflix has been blasted for ‘giving airtime’ to a cancer-faking influencer with their new series Apple Cider Vinegar

Fraudster Belle Gibson, now 33, claimed she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at the age of 20 and given just months to live (pictured in 2019)

Sharing their thoughts on Netflix’s Facebook page, people wrote: ‘As a person living with a brain tumour, I think that the premise of the movie is horrible!’; 

‘Real people who fake brain tumours. I worked with one of these people. Horrible and sad to glorify such a thing!’; ‘This is horrendous. Netflix is craping the barrel lately’;

‘As someone who has been living with multiple life limiting illnesses for most of my life, I think it’s disgusting that any more publicity is being given to that oxygen thief Belle Gibson’; ‘There’s so many great Australian true life stories waiting to be told, & this is what Netflix decides to make??’ 

On Tuesday Netflix unveiled the first look trailer of American actress Kaitlyn Dever as Aussie cancer fraudster Belle Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar.

The actress, 26, has scored the leading role in the six-part series set to provide a never-before-seen look into Belle’s life. All of which would be incredibly inspiring – were it only true. 

The trailer begins with Belle looking worried as she sits opposite her lawyer who asks for her side of the story.

The trailer then showcases the efforts she went to con her followers about her condition – with Arizona native Dever adopting a convincing Australian accent for the role as the Melbourne-born conwoman.

Kaitlyn is already a well-known star in the States, having appeared in Booksmart and the Emmy-winning Hulu drama Dopesick. 

Set during the early days of Instagram, Apple Cider Vinegar follows two young women who set out to cure their life-threatening illnesses through health and wellness

Fans of the streamer have complained that the show is ‘glamourising scammers’ and ‘giving them the ick’

Gibson, now 33, once claimed she had terminal brain cancer which was cured by simply eating healthy food – but it was later discovered she never had the disease. 

Read More Who is Kaitlyn Dever? Meet the American actress set to play cancer fraudster Belle Gibson in new Netflix series

Her shameless lie became a cause célèbre in Australia, and the story of ‘Healing Belle’ will soon be told around the world.

In 2013, Belle Gibson launched the @healing_belle Instagram account where she gained a large following through sharing so-called ‘healing’ food recipes.

She claimed her lifestyle and healthy eating plan had ‘cured’ her inoperable brain cancer, which she had supposedly been diagnosed with at the age of 20 and given just months to live.

Belle claimed she had undergone conventional cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, before abandoning modern medicine to follow a program of clean-eating instead.

Before long the deals began to roll in, with Gibson launching an app full of recipes as well as a book deal, reportedly worth $420,000.

Describing her plant-based diet in her book, she said: ‘I was empowering myself to save my own life through nutrition, patience, determination and love.’

However, in 2014, the Melbourne-based personality claimed that despite her new wellness-focused lifestyle, her cancer had returned, and this time it had spread. 

While many fans were devastated by the news, suspicions were soon raised about the money she claimed to have donated to various charities from the proceeds of her book.

Following an investigation by Fairfax Media, now Nine Newspapers, it was discovered none of the charities Belle had named had received a cent from her.

On Tuesday Netflix unveiled the first look trailer of American actress Kaitlyn Dever as Aussie cancer fraudster Belle Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar (Dever, left, Gibson, right)

The trailer begins with Dever (Gibson) looking worried as she sits opposite of her lawyer who asks for her side of the story

Belle claimed she had undergone conventional cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, before abandoning modern medicine to follow a program of clean-eating instead 

The influencer’s story quickly began to unravel, and in April 2015 she was forced to admit she had lied. 

In an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, she finally came clean about her cancer con and said, ‘No… none of it’s true,’ before adding she hoped people would forgive her and see she was only ‘human’.

She also appeared in a trainwreck interview on 60 Minutes, where she was grilled about her many falsehoods by reporter Tara Brown.  

Two years after her admission, Belle was fined around $410,000 after being found guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct.

The former wellness blogger later adopted the ‘Oromo’ ethnic group in Melbourne, even taking to wearing a headscarf and naming herself ‘Sabontu’.

In 2021, Daily Mail Australia revealed how she claimed to have been adopted by the community, had been ‘blessed by Allah’, and was even saying ‘my name is Sobantu’ in the native Afaan Oromo language. 

Ethiopian community sources told Daily Mail Australia that Gibson had attended BBQs, weddings and community meetings to ingratiate herself with the Oromo ethnic group.

But alarm bells began to ring when the fraudster started talking about wanting to ‘raise large amounts of money’ for the ethnic group.

After Daily Mail Australia exposed her new connections to Melbourne’s Ethiopian set, a leading member of the community revealed she had been frozen out forever.

Dr Tarekegn Chimdi, president of the Australian Oromo Community ᴀssociation in Victoria, said: ‘She was was told not to come.

The former wellness blogger later adopted the ‘Oromo’ ethnic group in Melbourne, even taking to wearing a headscarf and naming herself ‘Sabontu’ 

A beaming Belle posed with a friend during an Oromo community event

‘It was concerning when someone is using the community’s name who is not a member of that community,’ he continued.

‘She was coming across as more Oromo than Oromo people.

‘She is not involved with us. She’s not coming to our place, no way, no time.

‘She is not involved in any fundraising for us. I have not seen her since that happened.’

However, other members of the Oromo community threw their support behind the fraudster. 

A Shabo Media spokesman said Gibson had ‘changed a lot’ and was ‘trying to move on’ from the scandal.

‘She’s part of the community, she’s into it – she’s trying to help out the community. We know what she’s done before,’ they said.

Belle Gibson’s fake cancer saga: How it happened 

October 1991: Belle Gibson is born

May 2009: Gibson claims to have undergone multiple operations on her heart and also momentarily died on the operating table

July 2009: Gibson claims that a doctor diagnosed her with terminal brain cancer and that she only had four months to live

Early 2013: She launches an Instagram account (@healing_belle) and accompanying website sharing healthy, wholefood recipes

Mid 2013:  Gibson releases an app of her recipes called Whole Food Pantry

Mid-2014: Gibson begins working with Apple on the development of an Apple Watch-specific platform for the app

November 2014: Cosmopolitan honours Gibson with a Fun, Fearless, Female award in the social media category

March 2015: The Age newspaper releases an investigation into Gibson’s claims of donating proceeds to charity

April 2015: Women’s Weekly publishes an interview with Gibson, where she admits that she never had brain cancer: ‘None of it’s true’

May 2015: Victoria’s consumer watchdog launches legal proceedings against Gibson’s false claims of defeating cancer by way of a wholefood diet

June 2015: Gibson gives a TV interview with 60 Minutes, where she claims that she’s ‘not trying to get away with anything’ 

March 2017: A Federal Court Judge describes Gibson as having a ‘relentless obsession with herself and what serves her best interests’

September 2017: Gibson is fined $410,000 by the Federal Court for her false claims of charitable donations

June 2019: Almost two years after she was ordered to pay the fine, Gibson tells the court: ‘I’m not in a position to pay a $410,000 fine at this stage’

December 2019: Consumer Affairs Victoria quietly issues a warrant ‘of seizure or sale’ against Gibson

January 22, 2020: Sheriff executes a ‘seize and sell’ warrant on Gibson’s Northcote home, following inquiries from Daily Mail Australia

January 23, 2020: Daily Mail Australia reveals she has been ‘adopted’ by an Ethiopian group called the Oromo

May 2021: Authorities raid Gibson’s Northcote home to recoup over $500,000 in ‘fines, penalties and interest’

August 2021: She is disowned by the Oromo community in Melbourne