Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Apple Cider Vinegar!
Although the end of Belle Gibson’s story is clear from the start,Apple Cider Vinegarweaves a compelling picture of the scammer and the people she victimized, leading to a hopeful ending that sends an important message. Like the liquid from which the title is derived, Belle’s story is bitter and acidic, pointing out the predatory nature of the scammers and liars who push junk science. Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar jumps back and forth between Belle starting to lie about cancer, building her business, and getting exposed.
Woven in are the stories of the investigative journalists, who end up exposing her; her competitor,Milla Blake, who actually has cancer; Chanelle, her friend and manager; and Lucy, a cancer patient who falls victim to her lies. Ultimately, each of these characters plays a role in Belle’s downfall, leading to a satisfying ending to the true-ish story.
How The Investigative Journalists Finally Expose Belle Gibson
Belle Gibson Got Caught For Lying About Donations To Charity
Although investigative journalists Justin and Sean are certain that Belle Gibson is lying about her brain cancer inApple Cider Vinegar, they realize they cannot write that in an article asserting this belief unless they have irrefutable proof, which is nearly impossible to do. After all, they cannot force her to reveal her medical records, and hospitals can’t provide journalists with this information. They track the inconsistencies in Belle’s story, but it’s not enough. It would take Belle confessing for them to run the story.
Luckily,they have the brilliant revelation that Belle is probably lying about her donations, too.They get the charities and Fiona, Hunter’s mom, to talk to them about Belle not providing them with the donations she promised, which is their breakthrough. Frustratingly, they cannot make any allegations that Belle Gibson’s cancer is fake in the article, but they run the finance story, hoping audiences will connect the dots. This matches thetrue story ofApple Cider Vinegar, as investigative journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano had to break the finance story to expose Belle’s lies.
What Happens To Hunter In Apple Cider Vinegar
Hunter Suffers Because Of Belle Gibson’s Deceit
One of the most tragic parts ofApple Cider Vinegaris Belle Gibson’s deception towards a young boy named Hunter, who lives with brain cancer, and his family. These characters are based on Joshua Schwartz and his family, who the real scammer manipulated. In the miniseries, she very obviously uses them to bolster her cancer story, as she claims to have the exact same type of brain cancer as Hunter. She also manipulates consumers by promising a month of her app sales to the family so they can pay for Hunter’s brain surgery.
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As expected, they never see a dime of that money, which leads to a tragic ending for the little boy. The investigative journalists can’t do anything to recuperate the donations, so Fiona is forced to cancel Hunter’s surgery. They become subject to criticism from customers who demand their money back, and the family can’t do anything to convince the angry people that they never saw a cent of Belle Gibson’s money.The naysayers also start to accuse Hunter of faking his cancer, which accurately reflects the response to Joshua Schwartz’s true story (viaHerald Sun).
The worst part comes at the very end ofApple Cider Vinegarwhen Fiona reveals that Hunter has to stop treatment, implying that he’s terminal. Sadly, the real story ends in tragedy as well. Joshua Schwartz passed away in 2017 at the age of 9 (viaBody Matters).
Lucy’s Change Of Heart In Apple Cider Vinegar Explained
Lucy Finally Realizes That Belle Gibson Has Been Lying
TheApple Cider Vinegarcharacter Lucy serves as an example of Belle Gibson’s victims, falling for her claims that cancer can be cured without medicine. She repeatedly stands up for Belle to her journalist husband Justin, who’s investigating her after Chanelle tips them off about her lies. The assertion that Belle doesn’t have cancer drives a major wedge between the couple, with them arguing about Lucy’s choice to refuse treatment. However, the most empowering moment is when she comments on social media that Belle has never provided proof that she has cancer.
Lucy’s shift in mentality represents how a seed of doubt can grow subconsciously over time and become a revelation with the right push. It might have taken her time to get there due to the parasocial relationship she held with Belle, butLucy finally broke free from the person who manipulated her for so long. Another interpretation of her social media comment is that she finally realized her loyalty lies with the man who supported her the whole time. The decision to publicly doubt Belle might have come from a place of love towards her husband.
In either case, Lucy’s story inApple Cider Vinegarends with hope. She and Justin reconcile, finding a compromise that integrates both holistic healing and medical treatment. They do yoga and cold plunges together, and she also goes through chemo and surgery to treat her breast cancer. It’s an essential message in an era where scientific misinformation is rife that these two concepts don’t have to be at odds with one another. A patient like Lucy can trust their doctor’s expertise while also utilizing alternative medicine.
Why Clive Stays With Belle In The End
Even though he’s the first person to doubt that Belle Gibson has cancer, Clive struggles to reconcile his love for her with his anger at her lies. He threatens many times to leave Belle if she doesn’t either prove she has cancer or tell the truth. Even his parents tell him that he needs to break up with her. Unfortunately, he stays with Belle in the end, not because of his feelings towards her, but because he’s not willing to leave his son.
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Since he is not the child’s biological father, he can’t guarantee he’ll get any parenting rights. He begs his son’s bio dad to take him from Belle. Clive is willing to see his child less if the boy was safe, but the other man refuses to take any responsibility for the boy. His decision to stay with Belle is the ultimate sacrifice, a sign of his love for his son.
What Belle’s “This Is A True Story” Line Really Means In Apple Cider Vinegar
Belle Gibson Gets Lost In What’s True And What’s A Lie
Throughout Apple Cider Vinegar, different characters state, “This is a true story based on a lie” at the beginning of each episode, which seems like Netflix’s cheeky way to cover their bases after theBaby Reindeer defamation lawsuit. However, at the end of the final episode,Belle repeats “This is a true story” a few times, which represents the character’s struggle to differentiate the truth from liesafter telling them for so long.
This matches up with thereal Belle Gibson’s contradictions in the 2015 interviews about the truth. She refused to fully acknowledge, take blame, and apologize for her lies when speaking withThe Australian Women’s Weekly. In the real-life interview with60 Minutes, she claimed she believed her lies at the time she said them, as depicted inApple Cider Vinegar. The statement and Belle’s uncertainty about it in Apple Cider Vinegar also is a moment of self-awareness for the Netflix miniseries, which has to pick and choose what parts of the true story to tell while fictionalizing other aspects.
How Apple Cider Vinegar’s Ending Compares To The True Story
Apple Cider Vinegar’s Ending Remains Very Faithful To The Truth
Belle Gibson’s ending inApple Cider Vinegaris almost entirely truthful, with the influencer losing her business and her following. Penguin Publishing pulled her cookbook, and they got fined for not fact-checking the book. Meanwhile, Apple removed her app. The biggest discrepancy is that Belle may or may not have been paid $45,000 Australian dollars for the60 Minutesinterview, as that was a rumor. However, Lucy’s ending is entirely fictional, as writers created the character forApple Cider Vinegarto represent the millions of actual cancer patients who fell for Belle Gibson’s scheme.
The True Meaning Of Apple Cider Vinegar’s Ending
Apple Cider Vinegar’s Ending Focuses On The Victim Not The Perpetrator
Apple Cider Vinegarmay focus on Belle Gibson’s scam, but the miniseries makes a bold choice by spending the final minutes of the last episode following Justin and Lucy instead of the con artist. This choice might seem counterintuitive to the miniseries, but it actually continuesApple Cider Vinegar’s self-awareness, which is present throughout the entire story.
By ending the show with Justin and Lucy instead of Belle, the show sends the clear message that this was always about the cancer patients, not the liar who preyed on their desperation.
The Netflix miniseries exists within the true crime genre, which far too often tells the perpetrator’s story instead of following the victims.Apple Cider Vinegarmakes an active effort to tell the story of the people who were manipulated, stolen from, and connedbecause of Belle Gibson. By ending the show with Justin and Lucy instead of Belle, the show sends the clear message that this was always about the cancer patients, not the liar who preyed on their desperation. Belle fades into obscurity inApple Cider Vinegarwhile the survivors keep living in the forefront.
