Screengrab of Austrailian wellness blogger Belle Gibson, pictured in 2014
An Australian wellness activist who launched a global business off her story of overcoming multiple cancers – including terminal brain cancer – now says that she never had cancer at all.
"None of it's true," Belle Gibson told The Australian Women's Weekly in an interview that will be published Thursday.
The admission is a shocking development in the story of a young woman who became famous after she began using social media in 2013 to share her story of how she had survived cancer, and it raises questions about how mainstream media and her publisher failed to verify key details of her story.
The Australia story also comes at a time when online and TV personalities like Dr. Oz are coming under increasing scrutiny over the health information that they share with audiences – and the extent to which that information is based on evidence and science.
Ms. Gibson presented her story as proof and evidence that cancer could be beaten without the help of conventional medicine. She claimed that through changes in her diet, lifestyle and natural remedies she was able to beat the predictions of doctors, who said she had only months to live after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2009.
In recent years, she launched a smartphone app called The Whole Pantry, followed by The Whole Pantry Cookbook, which promoted a back to basic approach to nutrition – removing gluten, sugar, allergens and most dairy from recipes.
The recipes came out of her own journey of self-education and empowerment as she struggled with cancer and were suitable for people whether they were seeking healthier living or on a "healing journey," according to an excerpt from the cookbook.
She also claims in the book that she suffered a stroke at work, underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and passed out in a park near the hospital where she was undergoing treatment after a bout of vomiting.
Her turning point came that night.
"When I got home I stayed up all night at the computer, reading everything I could about brain cancer and alternative treatment," she said.
Ms. Gibson became an Australian wellness celebrity. She was showered with awards, profiled in the mainstream media and appeared regularly on morning TV where hosts commented on her healthy appearance despite her multiple cancer ordeals.
On social media, she amassed a following of more than 200,000 people.
But Ms. Gibson's remarkable personal story began to unravel last month.
Cosmopolitan magazine raised questions about her true age. According to tax papers, Ms. Gibson would have been 17 when she was first diagnosed with cancer and not 20, as she had claimed.
And there is the matter of her charity donations. She claimed to have donated $300,000 in 2014, but the actual figure was closer to $7,000, according to The Age newspaper.
Mr. Gibson invited her followers to download her smartphone app. The proceeds, she said, would go straight to charities in southeast Asia fighting maternal and infant deaths. When those charities were contacted about any donations, they said they had no record.
"I can say with confidence that we have never received a donation from Belle Gibson," one of the charities told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Questions began to surface about her cancer after an investigation by The Australian newspaper in March.
During an interview with the newspaper Ms. Gibson referred to several secondary cancers – blood, spleen, uterus and liver – that she was diagnosed with in 2014. She shared details of the cancers with followers on social media at the time, but during the interview with The Australian she said that the illnesses were based on a misdiagnosis. She would not name the doctor responsible.
During that interview, Ms. Gibson stood by her claim that she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Now she has changed her story entirely – saying that she has never had cancer.
"I don't want forgiveness," she told The Australian Women's Weekly, which will publish the full interview Thursday. "I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, 'Okay, she's human.'"
Ms. Gibson's online community and popularity led to book deals and partnerships with technology companies. Apple was reportedly collaborating with Ms. Gibson ahead of the launch of Apple Watch.
But with growing questions about Ms. Gibson's personal story, things quickly changed.
Her smartphone app, downloaded over 300,000 times and costing $3.79, was removed from the Apple app store last month. Penguin has stopped printing her cookbook and U.S. and U.K. launches of her book have been put off.
Last month, Australia media reported that Penguin had not fact-checked her story or asked for evidence before publishing the book last year.
Once media reports began to emerge about her personal story the publisher invited her to respond to the allegations. Penguin said it did not receive a sufficient explanation from Ms. Gibson and was left with no other option but to stop supplying her book in Australia.
The story took another twist when friends of Ms. Gibson reportedly challenged her in 2014 about her cancer claims – long before any media organizations did so. At the time, Ms. Gibson admitted to her friends that her diagnosis was questionable.
"I asked her when she got her diagnosis, she said she didn't know. I asked her who gave her the diagnosis, she said Dr. Phil. I asked if Dr. Phil had a last name she didn't know, he disappeared. I asked her where she saw Dr. Phil, she said he came and picked [her] up from [her] house," said Ms. Gibson's former friend, according to a report by Fairfax Media last month.