If you know anything about Belle Gibson, you’d know that she managed to rub almost the entire population of Australia up the wrong way upon the discovery that she profited from an illness that she actually never had.
Now, in a verdict many have been waiting with bated breath to hear, it seems the “wellness blogger” has been found guilty in the Victorian Federal Court of “most, but not all” charges against her for defrauding clients and monetising from false brain cancer claims.
“I have upheld most, but not all of the allegations,” Justice Debbie Mortimer, who handed the judgement, told the court room on Wednesday morning.
“Ms Gibson deliberately played on the genuine desire of members of the Australian community to help those less fortunate.
“Her ‘pitch’ overwhelmingly used groups likely to evoke sympathy because of their vulnerabilities — young girls, asylum seekers, sick children.”
Gibson currently faces a fine of more than $1 million, but News.com.au reports that the 25-year-old’s sentencing will come at a later date.
The days before this long-awaited verdict saw Belle make her in-the-eyes-of-the-public return, promoting a regime she promised would deliver all sorts of results, as previously reported by Now To Love.
According to The Daily Mail, going under the Facebook guise of Harry Gibson, Belle took to one of diet giant Master Fast System’s Facebook groups to back the “healing” properties of their product.
She reportedly bragged about losing 4kg, vastly improving her gut health, remedying two tooth cavities and even seeing her eye colour change in just 11 days.
Yes, all of the above in 11 days.
Image courtesy of The Daily Mail.
She also allegedly took to the Facebook page claims to have flushed out two 15-60cm-long rope worms during an enema.
“In the same release of water was a HUGE ROPE WORM. I’m talking enormous. It ruined my day almost not to be able to get this on video. Baha,’ she wrote on the group Facebook page.
“It was coiled around itself like a spiral about 5 or more times and it took up with width of the tube, so based on this math, I’m guessing it was at least 60cm (at minimum!!).
“I felt such a HUGE releif (sic) and was floating all day afterwards.”
In 2009, Belle’s name rose to fame after she used her profile as a cancer survivor to build an international empire. She claimed that by eating a diet loaded with wholefoods, she was able to cure herself of terminal brain cancer.
This led Belle to publish the book The Whole Pantry, as well as a smartphone app that was based on natural therapies.
Opening up exclusively told The Australian Women’s Weekly in 2015, Belle admitted she actually never had cancer.
“No. None of it’s true,” she confessed.
“I don’t want forgiveness. I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing.”
“Above anything, I would like people to say ‘OK, she’s human’.”
