Instagram’s Worst Con Artist
People often tell lies on social media but few lies are as despicable as those told by Belle Gibson.
The ITV documentary Instagram’s Worst Con Artist reveals the inside story of the lie that shocked the nation and caused many of her social media followers to lose their money.Â
Who is Belle Gibson?
Belle Gibson was born in Launceston, Tasmania in 1991. She rose to prominence in 2013 as a wellness guru and gained thousands of followers on Instagram when she documented her journey with terminal brain cancer.
Despite her cancer being terminal, she claimed to be recovering. Her secret? Not chemotherapy or any form of medical science. Rather, it was a plant-based diet free of dairy and gluten, as well as alternative therapies like Oxygen Therapy, that enabled her to recover from her cancer.Â
The influencer attracted millions of followers across her various social media platforms and she capitalized on this by developing The Whole Pantry App in 2013, where people could access guidance and recipes – for a price! She also made money by selling a book of the same name.
Gibson earned a fortune, though she promised to donate to various charities from her earnings. However, it was later discovered that Belle was a fraud.Â
Did Belle Gibson have cancer?
Belle claimed to have terminal brain cancer, which supposedly spread to other parts of her body in 2014.Â
However, it was all a lie. A friend of Belle’s suspected she was lying and a journalist investigated her story. They discovered Belle was a fake! She never did have cancer and she never donated any of her money to charity.Â
After this revelation, her social media followers demanded their money back and Apple removed her app from its store.
Belle later came clean about her lies in an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly. She blamed her upbringing on the cause and that she had been neglected by her estranged mother. Her mother refuted these claims and also told the truth about Belle’s brother, who the influencer had claimed was autistic.Â
In 2017, Belle Gibson was fined £240,000 by a court after breaking Australian consumer law. However, she failed to pay, claiming that she couldn’t afford the fine because she no longer had her fortune. Another lie?Â
You can learn more about Belle’s story in the documentary Instagram’s Worst Con Artist which is currently streaming on ITVX.
You can also click the link below to learn more about Belle, her lies, and what happened to her following her very public unmasking.Â
Read More: Where is Belle Gibson now?Â
What do you think of Belle Gibson’s lies? Does she deserve our sympathy? Let us know in the comments below.