Belle Gibson: The Influencer That Sold Lies

If the phrase “Social media is far from reality” was a picture, the Australian influencer, Belle Gibson would be the face. Such a con woman.

Over the years, bad news became the new oil, and it sells with the speed of a wildfire.

Another phenomenon that sells swiftly is the ability to beat the unbeatable and create an alternative solution to a perennial problem. Belle Gibson understood the assignment and took it to the next level without a care for the damage she was creating.

This Australian developed a social media strategy and became a top-notch influencer. 

She achieved such a feat by claiming she was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer and had just 4 months left to live. However, through healthy eating, she triumphed over the shackles of cancer and kept on living healthily.

Wow! Such a soul tickling story. The bad news of having just four months to live, laced with creating an alternative means of survival sold with the speed of lightning. Bringing towards Belle popularity, admiration and love; which she exploited and profited from.

She became a renowned wellness blogger and author of The Whole Pantry mobile app. Belle flourished in the wellness industry, an industry estimated to worth a whooping £2.8 trillion globally. She was on the news and the front covers of magazines.

Belle looked healthy and was living her best life. So it was easy for people to fall for the fantasy she was selling. People thought that she was living proof that cancer was beatable with the right meal recipe, without knowing she was a fraud living a lie.

Via her social media account and book, Belle pretended to be revealing to people healthy recipes to beat even deadly diseases like cancer. She further claimed that a fraction of the money earned from the purchase of her cookbook and The Whole Pantry app was donated to charity. 

She was such a sweet soul in the eyes of the public. An inspiration and a role model to those battling cancer and other health challenges. One must admit that Belle was incredibly artistic in painting a fake life.

Nevertheless, things fell apart when in March 2015, a publication made in Australia uncovered that Belle’s claim that a fraction of her sales were being donated to charity was a lie. Her woes continued when in September 2017, the Australian government found her guilty of violating consumer law by deceiving her followers that she donates to charity. She was fined £240,000. 

This discovery led people into questioning all her claims and cancer beating story. Belle later confessed that she had never had cancer and everything was a lie. After making the revelation she left social media and has been living on the low.

Reports have it that to this year, she was yet to pay up her fine so in 2021 the Australian government started confiscating her properties. 

Belle Gibson exploited the plights of people who were sick just for money and personal gains. Such cruelty should be unheard of. Sadly, there are tons of Belles on social media and even in real life exploiting people daily, either by selling a false lifestyle, fake products, fake prophecies and miracles, fake drugs and lots more. 

Dear reader, be careful because appearance is most times far from reality. There cold-hearted people like Belle everywhere do not be scammed.

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