In March 2015 – nearly two years to the month after formally registering her business The Whole Pantry, and over a year after landing a book deal worth $125,000 – The Age journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano began hearing whispers not all was how it seemed in the case of wellness blogger Belle Gibson.
They had heard from five people within her “inner circle” that some had doubts about her terminal cancer diagnosis. These whispers would take them on an investigation that proved Gibson, then 27, had faked her illness and fraudulently acquired funds from her book and app on the promise of donating the money to charity.
In their book, The Woman Who Fooled the World: Belle Gibson’s Cancer Con and the Darkness at the Heart of the Wellness Industry, the journalists detailed the moment they sent Gibson an email, asking why she had not donated to the charities she said she supported. They also pressed Gibson on her cancer diagnosis.
Top Comments
She should have been sent to jail in the first place. This is a disgusting crime.
Gibson's actual crimes are specific to charity fraud. I agree what she did is disgusting, but you can't send people to jail for claiming they cured themselves of cancer.
I really wish that this woman would not be given any attention whatsoever. She scammed people, broke the law and falsely gave people hope. She is the lowest of lows and I can’t understand why anyone would want to read about her, I don’t even know why I did!
The public need to know, so they don't fall for this again. And yes, I know scam artists have been around since Adam was a boy, but that doesn't mean we just accept it.
I’m not saying accept it but you can’t have missed this unless you’ve lived under a rock either. The woman has had more than enough time and attention