'Apple Cider Vinegar': A scam so wild, it sounds fake

Updated Feb. 10, 2025, 7:01 a.m. | By East Coast Breakfast / Skyye Ndlovu

Netflix's latest limited series 'Apple Cider Vinegar' exposes the true story of a wellness scam so insane, it makes you wonder how thousands of people fell for it.

Apple Cider Vinegar NF — Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar / Alflix_Server / X

Every once in a while, a show comes along that makes you question everything you know about the internet, influencers, and human decency.

'Apple Cider Vinegar' is a six-episode Netflix limited series that tells the absolutely bonkers true story of Belle Gibson. This is a woman who convinced the world she had terminal brain cancer, only to be exposed as one of the biggest wellness frauds of all time.

Yep. This is 'The Dropout' meets 'Inventing Anna'. If you think you know how crazy this story gets; trust me, you don’t.

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Picture this: It’s 2013. You’re scrolling through social media, and there’s this beautiful, glowing woman who claims she’s cured her terminal brain cancer with green juice, turmeric, and positive vibes. No chemo, no surgery – just a whole lot of apple cider vinegar and clean eating.

Sounds inspiring, right? Well, thousands of people thought so too. Gibson built an empire out of her story, launching a best-selling wellness app and cookbook, 'The Whole Pantry', which promised health, happiness, and healing, all while subtly shaming modern medicine.

She even caught the eye of Apple, which planned to pre-install her app on the Apple Watch. This woman was living the dream, until someone asked the one question she wasn’t prepared for: “Do you actually have cancer?”

Spoiler alert: She did not.

Turns out, Gibson never had cancer at all, not even a little bit. In 2015, journalists exposed her entire story as one giant scam, revealing that she had lied not only about her health but also about donating money to charities.

By 2017, she was fined AUD $410,000 (about R4.7 million) for misleading consumers, but she never paid a cent and continued living her best (and shameless) life.

Netflix’s Apple 'Cider Vinegar' took this wild true story and turned it into six episodes of jaw-dropping, stress-inducing TV.

Kaitlyn Dever (who you might know from 'Dopesick' or 'Booksmart') nails the role of Gibson, playing her as both dangerously charming and deeply delusional. Watching her gaslight an entire population into believing that kale and essential oils could cure cancer is both horrifying and hypnotic.

Alycia Debnam-Carey (from 'Fear the Walking Dead') acts as Milla Blake, a character inspired by real-life wellness influencer Jessica Ainscough who, unlike Gibson, actually had cancer and put all her faith in alternative treatments with tragic results.

Her storyline adds a gut-punching reality check to the series, showing just how dangerous wellness misinformation can be.

If you love true crime but need a break from serial killers and want something that will make you scream “Oh my God, how did people fall for this?”, 'Apple Cider Vinegar' is the show for you.

It’s a fascinating, infuriating, and wildly entertaining deep dive into the dark side of influencer culture, reminding us all that just because someone looks great on Instagram doesn’t mean they have any idea what they’re talking about.

So grab some popcorn (or if you want to stay on theme, a shot of apple cider vinegar), and get ready for one of the most bizarre scams in modern history.

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