Belle Gibson, the influencer whose life has become the focus of a new Netflix drama, reappeared three years after her fake scandal with a whole new identity.
Gibson went dark in the media eight years ago due to being found out in 2017 for having lied about her terminal cancer diagnosis.
The influencer's life recently inspired a Netflix drama called Apple Cider Vinegar.
She had been making a living as a health and wellness influencer, purporting that cancer could be treated totally naturally.
Advert
Gibson released an app with a list of healthy recipes, predicated on the idea that she had beaten her terminal cancer through food and natural supplements.
When it was discovered to not be the case, she was lambasted publicly and eventually taken to court.
In 2015 she first revealed in an interview with Women’s Weekly: "No, none of it's true," but refused to take responsibility.
This eventually led to her in 2017 being taken to court over false claims she made about donating money to charity.
Advert
She was charged with paying over £200,000 in fines to the Australian government and disappeared from the public eye.
This was until three years later when she re-appeared in the media, claiming to have been ‘adopted’ by the Ethiopian Oromo community in Melbourne.
The cancer scammer told the interviewer that her name was Sabontu while speaking in Oromo, eventually switching to English.
In addition to this, Gibson sported a headscarf, and said: “My heart is deeply embedded in the Oromo people, I feel blessed to be adopted by you.”
Shockingly though, the terminal cancer scammer does not appear to have been telling the whole truth.
Gibson’s interview came at a political meeting months before it was widely publicised.
Advert
Due to her refusal to pay court fines and the resulting interest, however, her home was raided - something which made the news.
Upon spotting this, members of the Oromo community began piecing things together.
Following this development, Dr Tarekegn Chimdi, a Melbourne Oromo community leader, said to Women’s Weekly of Gibson: “She is exploiting the good heart of the people in our community.
“People are not questioning when people are approaching them [whether] this is a good person. They did not know what evil she was carrying.”
Advert
She has not been publicly spotted as part of the Ethiopian community since.
One of the few public appearances came last year when she was ambushed by Australian TV channel, A Current Affair, and stated she was unable to pay fines, which have now spiralled to over half a million Australian dollars.
Apple Cider Vinegar is available to watch on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, TV and Film, TV, Australia, Crime
Michael Slavin