Annabelle Natalie Gibson (born 8 October 1991) is an Australian convicted

scammer A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...

and

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...

advocate. She is the author of ''The Whole Pantry''

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

and its later companion cookbook. Throughout her career as a wellness guru, Gibson falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with multiple

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

pathologies, including malignant brain cancer, and that she was effectively managing them through diet, exercise,

natural medicine Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudoscientific practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturop ...

, and alternative therapies. She additionally alleged that she had donated significant proportions of her income and her company's profits to numerous charities. In March 2015, after reports identified Gibson's fraudulent claims regarding her charitable donations, media investigation revealed that she had also fabricated her stories of cancer, and lied about her age, personal life and history. Concerns were expressed that Gibson had led a profligate lifestyle, renting an upmarket town house, leasing a luxury car and office space, undergoing cosmetic dental procedures, purchasing designer clothes and holidaying internationally, using money claimed to have been raised for charity. With a collapsing

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

support base, Gibson admitted in an April 2015 interview that her claims of having multiple cancers had been fabricated, stating that "none of it's true". Her actions were described as "particularly predatory" and "deceit on a grand scale, for personal profit". On 6 May 2016, Consumer Affairs Victoria announced legal action against Gibson and Inkerman Road Nominees Pty Ltd (originally known as Belle Gibson Pty Ltd) for "false claims by Ms. Gibson and her company concerning her diagnosis with terminal brain cancer, her rejection of conventional cancer treatments in favour of natural remedies, and the donation of proceeds to various charities." On 15 March 2017, the Federal Court supported most of those claims, concluding that, "Ms. Gibson had no reasonable basis to believe she had cancer."

Biography

Gibson was born in Launceston, Tasmania. According to interviews she has given, she left her

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

family home at age 12 to live with a classmate, and later lived with a family friend. Gibson attended

Wynnum State High School Wynnum State High School is a public high school in Wynnum, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The current principal is Catherine Pfingst, and the Deputy Principals are Elizabeth Williams, Kim Hutchinson, Marina Williams and Lisa Hawkin. Facilitie ...

in Manly,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, until dropping out in Year 10, although she also later claimed to have been

homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

ed. She worked for some time as a trainee for catering supply company PFD Food Services in Lytton, but

reflected that by late 2008 she had relocated to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. There, she was involved in the skateboarding culture and actively participated in its online community. Gibson subsequently moved from Perth to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in July 2009 and became a mother one year later, at age 18. Gibson launched ''The Whole Pantry''

in August 2013, at age 21. Gibson reportedly told a prospective business partner in 2014 that she had " several names" that she went under, and in her most recent interview with ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' claimed "her mother changed her name five times". Gibson's corporate filings indicate that she is three years younger than she publicly claims to be.

''The Whole Pantry''

After Gibson launched ''The Whole Pantry'' app, it was reportedly downloaded 200,000 times within its first month. It was voted Apple's Best Food and Drink App of 2013. Gibson soon after signed a book deal with Lantern Books, an imprint of

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.cookbook, which was published in October 2014. She further worked with

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

in September 2014 to transition the app as a privileged pre-installed default third party inclusion in the

Apple Watch Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...

's April 2015 launch. By early 2015, it was estimated that in excess of $1 million had been made in sales of ''The Whole Pantry'' app and book. Gibson chronicled her battle with

on a blog of the same name, but "doubts about her claims surfaced after she failed to deliver a promised $300,000 donation to a charity". Before doubts were raised about her health and charitable donation claims, Gibson had intended to expand her brand beyond the app, having earlier registered the domain ''The Whole Life'', and advertised in December 2014 to recruit an IT specialist to expand the app and brand portfolio. Both ''The Whole Pantry'' app and ''The Whole Life'' were registered by Gibson's partner, Clive Rothwell, in her corporate name. The Whole Pantry registrar was amended in March 2015 after the controversy broke. While ''The Whole Pantry'' has unequivocally denied that Gibson ever helped anyone to reject conventional cancer treatment, Gibson has been quoted from her social media posts as claiming that she had "countless times helped others" to forgo conventional medical treatment for cancer and to treat themselves "naturally", as well as "leading them down natural therapy for everything from fertility, depression, bone damage and other types of cancer".

Health claims

In interviews, Gibson claimed to have had malignant brain,

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

uterine The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The ...

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...

, and

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...

cancers, which she attributed to a reaction to the

Gardasil Gardasil is an HPV vaccine for use in the prevention of certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledge ...

cervical cancer vaccine. When the book was launched in November 2014, Gibson claimed in its preface that she had been "stable for two years now with no growth of the cancer", but her story soon emerged as inconsistent: she also told media outlets that the cancer had reached her liver and kidneys, and three months earlier had posted on ''The Whole Pantry''s

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page that her cancer had spread to her brain, blood, spleen, and uterus. She previously claimed that she had undergone

heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

several times and to have momentarily died on the operating table. Gibson also claimed to have had a stroke. However, she was unable to substantiate her medical claims nor name the doctors who diagnosed and treated her. She also did not bear any surgical scars from her apparent heart operations. Gibson's and ''The Whole Pantry''s statements regarding the benefits of exercise, healthy eating and a positive mindset were uncontroversial, being widely acknowledged as conducive to holistic well-being. However, on her now-deleted Instagram account and in other social media, Gibson also promoted more controversial or potentially dangerous alternative medical practices, including

Gerson therapy Max Gerson (October 18, 1881 – March 8, 1959) was a German-born American physician who developed the Gerson Therapy, a dietary-based alternative cancer treatment that he claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases. ...

anti-vaccination Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

, and the consumption of non-pasteurised

raw milk Raw milk or unpasteurized milk is milk that has not been pasteurized, a process of heating liquid foods to kill pathogens for safe consumption and extending the shelf life. Proponents of raw milk have asserted numerous supposed benefits to consu ...

. The highly controversial Gerson therapy had been similarly promoted by another Australian wellness blogger,

Jessica Ainscough Jessica Ainscough (July 1985 – 26 February 2015) was an Australian teen magazine editor who became a writer and wellness entrepreneur following a rare cancer diagnosis at the age of 22. Ainscough went by the self-coined nickname "The Wellness ...

, whose funeral Gibson attended when Ainscough died from cancer in late February 2015. With approximately 97% of the Australian population under seven years of age immunised, Federal

vaccination policy A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by State or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or sc ...

heavily penalises parents who refuse to vaccinate their children, by denying access to significant welfare and other benefits, worth approximately $11,700 per annum. The sale of raw milk for human consumption is illegal in Australia and, in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, one three-year-old died and another four children under the age of five became seriously ill after consuming non-pasteurised milk in 2014.

Charitable claims

As Gibson's medical claims were being scrutinised, allegations emerged that charitable contributions raised in 2013 and 2014 had not been given to their intended causes. Gibson denied the charges, but

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

revealed that she had "failed to hand over proceeds solicited in the name of five charities" and had "grossly overstated the company's total donations to different causes." Two charities confirmed to ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' newspaper that Gibson's company had used their names in fundraising drives but had either failed to deliver the donations or had inadequately accounted for the funds. Gibson had claimed on a number of occasions in 2014 that ''The Whole Pantry'' had donated approximately $300,000 to charities, including maternal healthcare in developing nations, medical support for children with cancer, and funding schools in sub-Saharan Africa. In late 2014, when ''The Whole Pantry'' app was pre-installed on the Apple

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...

, Gibson claimed through her Instagram account to be working with twenty different charities. Gibson has long claimed in her

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

professional networking profile, established in February 2013, to be a philanthropist. Gibson eventually admitted, in relation to fraud proceedings, that she had seriously overstated the level of charitable contributions that had been made. Subsequent media reports in March 2015 revealed that it could only be ascertained that an estimated $7,000 of the previously claimed $300,000 had been donated to a total of three charities, with at least $1,000 of the $7,000 reportedly having been donated only after Gibson became aware of the Fairfax investigation into her earlier claims. Another $1,000 of the $7,000 had been donated to a charitable cause under Rothwell's name, rather than Gibson's or the company name. Also in March 2015, the parents of a young child with brain cancer, whom Gibson had befriended, came forward to report that they had been unaware that Gibson had earlier been claiming to be fundraising for their child's treatment on their behalf. The family had never received any funds from her or ''The Whole Pantry'', and suspected Gibson had been using information gleaned from the family's experiences to underpin her own claims to have brain cancer.

Concern over publisher culpability

As the controversy grew, questions began to be raised about Apple, Penguin and the Australian media's lack of due diligence in '' prima facie'' accepting Gibson's claims of having multiple cancers, an issue taken up by the ABC's '' Media Watch'' program. Apple Inc., in response to media enquiry in March 2015, declined to remove ''The Whole Pantry'' app from sale, stating that it was only concerned about the functionality of the app. However, ''The Whole Pantry'' was soon thereafter removed from inclusion in the Apple Watch launch. Apple subsequently deleted the app from the Apple Store, and removed it from all Apple Watch promotional material. Apple has not provided any public comment regarding the reasons behind the removal of the app, but an internal email from an Australian executive to the company's US office acknowledged that the removal would be subject to comment. Lantern Books, when initially approached by investigative journalists, claimed it had not confirmed the validity of Gibson's cancer claims as it was not required for a cookbook. Soon after, as the controversy grew, Penguin withdrew the book from sale, citing a lack of response from Gibson to its queries relating to the media accusations. However, Fairfax reported that Penguin had, prior to publication of the book, already quizzed and videotaped Gibson on her cancer story, as recounted in the

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...

. Penguin agreed to pay A$30,000 to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund as a penalty for failing to validate the factual content of the book. ''

Elle Australia ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the wo ...

'' magazine, published by

Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 r ...

, admitted that following a laudatory December 2014 story on Gibson, they had received but ultimately dismissed anonymous claims that she was fabricating her story. A second Bauer magazine, ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', which had awarded Gibson its 2014 "Fun Fearless Female" social media award, admitted that it too had received and dismissed a similar email. After Gibson's confessions, the magazine decided not to strip her of the award, stating that she had been "reader nominated and reader voted." However, a month earlier, ''Cosmopolitan''s associate editor stated that they "put forward the nomination myself", indicating that the magazine not the public had been instrumental in promoting Gibson's award. A conventional cancer research professional from the

Garvan Institute of Medical Research The Garvan Institute of Medical Research is an Australian biomedical research institute located in , Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1963 by the Sisters of Charity as a research department of St Vincent's Hospital, it is now one of Australi ...

also went public to state that, by failing to conduct basic

fact checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying factual information, in order to promote the veracity and correctness of reporting. Fact-checking can be conducted before (''ante hoc'') or after (''post hoc'') the text is published or otherwise dissem ...

and providing "unfiltered PR" to Gibson's untested claims, an uncritical media had been complicit in her "scam".

Erasing the story

Once the controversy surfaced in the media, ''The Whole Pantry'' began removing any comments made on its (since deleted) Facebook page that questioned Gibson's claims, asserting that these comments only added to "the misinformation" of the initial Fairfax article. This selective deletion drew even more negative comment. Simultaneously, posts that Gibson had made on her Instagram account that made reference to her cancers or charitable donations were also selectively deleted. Soon after, all posts were deleted from Gibson's and ''The Whole Pantry''s Instagram accounts. Around the same time, individual postings about Gibson's cancer, and claims of having died briefly while under heart surgery, were also being selectively deleted by the administrator of her blog "at the request of a user". Accounts across a number of social media platforms were soon either abandoned, made private, or deleted in their entirety. Gibson subsequently established another Facebook account under the alias Harry Gibson, which was made private and used to hit back at Facebook followers questioning her claims or speaking to the media.

Admission of deceit

In late April 2015, Gibson gave an interview to ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', in which she admitted to having fabricated all her cancer claims. Gibson attributed her deceit to her upbringing, and specifically to

neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness an ...

by her now- estranged mother, claiming to having been forced to take care of herself and her brother since the age of 5. The interview was, however, described as an admission of deceit, without expression of regret or apology. In a May 2015 interview with the same magazine, Gibson's mother Natalie Dal-Bello refuted several claims Gibson had made about her family, including the false claim that her brother was

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

. Gibson's ''Women's Weekly'' interview was arranged by Bespoke Approach, and Gibson was provided '' pro bono'' representation by the company during the interview. In June 2015, Gibson was rumoured to have received A$45,000 for an interview with Nine Network's '' 60 Minutes''.

Legal action

Consumer Affairs Victoria brought legal action against Gibson for allegedly breaking Australian consumer law. The regulator said it had conducted an in-depth investigation of Gibson's activities and applied to Australia's Federal Court for leave to pursue legal action. Gibson's publisher, Penguin Australia, has already agreed to pay $30,000 to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund as a penalty for releasing ''The Whole Pantry'', which was not fact checked. On 15 March 2017, Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer delivered the decision that "most but not all" of the claims against Gibson were proven. Gibson did not appear in court for the decision. Justice Mortimer found that Gibson's claims had been misleading and deceptive, and that "Ms. Gibson had no reasonable basis to believe she had cancer from the time she began making these claims in public to promote ''The Whole Pantry'' Book and the apps in mid-2013", but there was not enough evidence to prove that she was not acting out of delusion.. In September 2017, Gibson was fined $410,000 for making false claims about her donations to charity.. , Gibson had not yet paid the fine, and authorities were seeking power to charge her with contempt of court. A new trial was set for 14 May and she faced an undetermined number of years in jail if she did not attend. As of mid-September 2019, Gibson still had not paid, claiming to be broke, and Consumer Affairs Victoria were still seeking to enforce the penalty. In a 2017 letter later released by the Federal Court, Gibson had stated that she was $170,000 in debt, and had $5,000 to her name.

House raid by police

On 22 January 2020, the Sheriff's Office of Victoria raided Gibson's home in Northcote and seized items to recoup Gibson's unpaid fines, which, due to interest and costs, exceeded half a million dollars. Her home was raided again on 21 May 2021 to "try to recoup her unpaid fines".

Claimed adoption into Oromo community

The day after the first raid, on 23 January 2020, a Shabo Media video from October 2019 surfaced in which Gibson was wearing a headscarf and speaking partially in Oromo language (referring to herself as "Sanbontu"), discussing the political situation in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

with an interviewer and referring to Ethiopia as "back home". She professed to have been adopted by the Ethiopian community in Melbourne after volunteering for four years, calling the adoption a gift from "Allah". However, on the same day, the president of the Australian Oromo Community Association in Victoria, Tarekegn Chimdi, stated that Gibson was not a registered volunteer, "is not a community member and she's also not working with the community," and that he had only seen her at events two or three times. He expressed that nobody seemed to know who she was and he had only just learnt of her backstory, and expressed a desire for her to stop saying she is part of the community.

References

External links

*Archive o
The Whole Pantry website
registered by Gibson. *
What to Trust in a "Post-Truth" World
Alex Edmans TED talk. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Belle Australian fraudsters Health fraud Living people Criminals from Melbourne 21st-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian criminals 1991 births People from Launceston, Tasmania Pseudoscientific diet advocates Alternative cancer treatment advocates Confidence tricksters Medical controversies in Australia People convicted for health fraud