A health blogger who lied about having brain cancer and curing herself through natural therapies was on Wednesday found guilty by an Australian court of misleading the public.
Belle Gibson, 25, launched a popular cookbook and smartphone app in 2013 on the back of claims she had overcome the disease through alternative remedies such as Ayurvedic medicine and a diet free of gluten and refined sugar.
But in 2015 she admitted to an Australian magazine that she had made up the diagnosis.
Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) took legal action against Gibson, and the Federal Court upheld most of their allegations, finding she had engaged in “misleading or deceptive conduct” after promoting her book and app on false assertions.
Ms Gibson built a public profile since 2013 around her claim through her book, Instagram and Facebook accounts that she was diagnosed with brain cancer as a 20-year-old in 2009 and was given four months to live.She claimed to have rejected conventional cancer treatments in favor of a quest to heal herself naturally.
