Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar is the latest of several true crime con stories (like Inventing Anna) and audiences are wondering exactly how much of the series is factual.
Apple Cider Vinegar brings to the screen the harrowing story of how Australian wellness influencer Belle Gibson deceived the world. The dramatized biopic stars Kaitlyn Dever (who will soon be seen in The Last of Us Season 2) as Gibson, alongside Alycia Debnam-Carey, Aisha Dee, and Ashley Zukerman.
It's repeated throughout Apple Cider Vinegar that the series is a "true-ish story based on a lie," so exactly how much of the story is grounded in fact?
How Much of Apple Cider Vinegar Is True?
Many may remember Belle Gibson's Instagram fame, or if not, may recall her shocking lies being publicized in the news around 2015. But given the level of uncertainty around Gibson's story (much of which stems from her own lies) a certain degree of creative license was taken when bringing it to Netflix.
Much of the Netflix series is based on the book The Woman Who Fooled The World, written by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, who were also the journalists who first investigated and broke the story of Gibson's deception in 2015. Showrunner Samantha Strauss optioned the book for adaptation a few years later, thus many aspects of the series are grounded in the factual reporting within the book.
Is Belle Gibson A Real Person?
The character of Belle Gibson is a real person and many of the crimes that she committed are represented faithfully in the show.
Gibson pretended to have terminal brain cancer and claimed she had cured it through a combination of holistic medicine and nutrition. She amassed a following on Instagram and went on to launch an app for healthy recipes dubbed The Whole Pantry.
The Whole Pantry became a powerhouse and was selected for a partnership with Apple, even becoming one of a handful of apps chosen to be pre-installed on the first Apple Watch, as it was in the show. However, Gibson's lies were exposed before the release of the Apple Watch and the company quickly cut ties with her and pulled The Whole Pantry from its store.
Similarly, The Whole Pantry earned Gibson a cookbook deal with Penguin, which is represented in the show through Gibson's storyline with her publisher Julie (Catherine McClements). Penguin Australia ultimately pulled Gibson's book from shelves after the scandal broke. The whole deal landed the publisher in hot water and Penguin was fined $30,000 by Consumer Affairs Victoria for failing to fact-check Gibson's story.
Gibson's web of lies became as convoluted as it appears in Apple Cider Vinegar. In the foreword of The Whole Pantry recipe book she claimed her brain cancer had been stable for two years, but months earlier on the company's Facebook page, she alleged her cancer had spread to her blood, spleen, liver, and uterus.
How Was Belle Gibson Exposed?
The journalists from The Age, Justin (Mark Coles Smith) and Sean (Richard Davies), in Apple Cider Vinegar are based on Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, who published the first stories exposing Gibson's fake cancer diagnosis and revealed she had not been donating to the charities she had publicly promised to do.
Just as was depicted in the show, Donelly and Toscano were tipped off to Belle's lies by her friend, Chanelle (portrayed by Aisha Dee), who attempted to stage an intervention with her to get her to stop before prior to going to the media.
After the story broke, Gibson quickly backtracked and posted online that she was intending to follow through on her charitable donations but they'd been held up by "cash flow" issues. Soon after she deleted her posts on Instagram relating to her health claims and deactivated social pages for The Whole Pantry.
Gibson eventually confessed to not having been diagnosed with cancer in two major interviews with the Australian Woman's Weekly and 60 Minutes (much of Gibson's 60 Minutes interview is recreated faithfully in the show).
This results in hefty ramifications for Belle that are revealed in Apple Cider Vinegar's abrupt ending.
Is Belle's Gibson's Personal Life Accurate?
Much of the representation of Gibson's private life is true in Apple Cider Vinegar as well.
Gibson did lie about her age but investigations have revealed she was 21 at the time of The Whole Pantry's launch. She became a single mother at a young age and told the Woman's Weekly she suffered a miscarriage while with her partner Clive Rothwell (played by Ashley Zukerman), an IT worker.
Gibson claimed in the Woman's Weekly interview that her childhood was tough and that she struggled to take care of herself after being neglected by her mother who had multiple sclerosis.
Belle's mother, Natalie Del-Bello refuted these claims in a scathing interview with the same outlet (via News.com.au), calling out her daughter's story as "rubbish" and claiming that while she does have MS it did not prohibit her from caring for Belle.
The Woman Who Fooled The World also revealed some truths about Belle's childhood which were depicted in the show, such as her running away from home at age 12 to live with an older male colleague.
Is Milla a Real Person?
While many of the characters in Apple Cider Vinegar have direct counterparts, Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is inspired by a combination of real people, particularly wellness influencers of that era, according to Tudum.
Milla is depicted in the show as a woman with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma in her arm who decides to try and treat it naturally rather than resorting to amputation. She turns to the fictional Hirsch institute for treatment (which is similar to the real-world Gerson regiment).
While Milla is not directly inspired by one specific person, her life does bear similarities to Jess Ainscough, who was diagnosed with cancer and advised to undergo surgery by doctors but chose to turn to alternative therapies instead.
Similar to Milla, Ainsclough began a blog titled The Wellness Warrior, worked the speaking circuit, and published her own book Make Peace with Your Plate: Change Your Life One Meal at a Time.
She tragically died at the age of 30 in 2015. In Donelly and Toscano's book they reveal that despite Ainsclough's manager claiming the two were not friends, Gibson attended Ainsclough's funeral and was seen crying loudly - which is another plot point that makes it into Apple Cider Vinegar.
Which Parts of Apple Cider Vinegar Aren't True?
When it comes to the creative license in Apple Cider Vinegar, much of this relates to the intricacies of Belle as a character, along with fleshing out the storylines of the ensemble cast.
Strauss told The Guardian in an interview that many of the scenes behind closed doors were fictionalized, such as a scene where Gibson locks her son in his bedroom. The EP said they leaned into the "tru-ish" angles of the story for those aspects:
“I think we do really lean into it and say it honestly – this is true-ish. It’s an interesting thing when you’re dealing with someone who has lied and that you’re creating a work that is, in some respects, fiction as well."
Apple Cider Vinegar makes a point to state that Gibson has not been paid for this recreation of her story and Strauss said the intention of the series was never to "absolve [Gibson] of what she did," adding that the disclaimer helped to remind viewers "she's not a part of this; she's not being paid."
Apple Cider Vinegar is now streaming on Netflix.
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