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Landmark Belle Gibson Judgment Has Ramifications For Penguin Publishing

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 04:17 PST, May 16, 2016

Belle Gibson, the founder of the Whole Pantry, is being sued for lying about the cancer cure she had found, which was healthy eating. Gibson is being sued by Consumer Affairs Victoria, according to the Daily Mail.

Belle Gibson, who lives in Melbourne, became popular for her claims that she had cured cancer with the help of healthy eating. But it turns out Gibson, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1999, faked brain cancer in order to gain popularity.

Belle Gibson got hundreds of thousands of followers who believed the wellness blogger indeed managed to cure her cancer with food and followed her every health advice. Gibson even published a book of recipes with the help of Penguin Publishing.

And Penguin got a share of trouble, too, as the publishing company will have to pay the consumer law fund the amount of $30,000 for not checking the credulity of claims made by Belle Gibson in her book.

In fact, Penguin will have to be careful from now on, as the publishing company will have to include a “prominent warning notice” on all books that have any health claims. The publishing company will have to boost its training program to make sure that health claims in its books have substantial evidence to avoid a similar situation with Belle Gibson’s book.

Belle Gibson was exposed after a consumer watchdog launched a large-scale investigation into the wellness blogger’s claims, resulting in Gibson facing legal action for deceptive conduct, according to the Age.

Doubts about the credibility of Belle Gibson’s claims were first raised in March 2015. In her book, Belle Gibson claimed she was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 at the age of 20, but it was revealed that the wellness blogger had been born in 1991.

Belle Gibson even managed to launch a recipe and lifestyle app, The Whole Pantry, and Apple had worked with Gibson on the app. In fact, it was one of the first apps to be made available on the Apple Watch. However, the app was later deleted from the company’s app store.

Thousands of dollars in charity donations promised by Belle Gibson also gave ground to suspicions about the credibility of her health claims. The wellness blogger once said there were some “cash flow problems” that prevented her from making the promised donations.

Penguin later admitted Belle Gibson’s book had been “published in good faith” and that the wellness blogger’s claims had never been checked for credibility.

Affairs Victoria confirmed last week it started legal proceedings against Belle Gibson for making false claims and lying about cancer. Gibson’s own company, Inkerman Road Nominees Pty Ltd, will also face legal action from Consumer Affairs Victoria.

In her interview with Australian Women’s Weekly last month, Belle Gibson said none of it is true, adding that she doesn’t need any forgiveness.

“I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, ‘OK, she’s human.'”

Women’s Weekly then wrote in its article that Belle Gibson had no idea how cancer works but was still promoting gluten, dairy, and coffee-free diets as a way to cure cancer. Belle Gibson even said it was “traumatizing” for her to find out she had never had brain cancer.

“I was feeling a huge amount of grief… that I had been lied to, that I felt like I had been taken for a ride.”

Belle Gibson even said she had intentions to tell the world that she had never had cancer once she was “strong enough.”

Women’s Weekly mentioned 49-year-old cancer survivor Ann Tucker-Gwinn, who says that Belle Gibson’s false story gave false hope to those suffering from cancer, especially “vulnerable” people who had been recently diagnosed.

“People who are at the beginning of their cancer journey have one thing in common – terror. And a person in that state of mind is vulnerable.”

[Image via aerogondo2/Shutterstock.com]

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