Australian indie developer Belle Gibson — known for her iOS app The Whole Pantry — has publicly admitted that she made up a story about suffering from terminal brain cancer to boost profits.
“No. None of it’s true,” she told The Australian Women’s Weekly magazine when asked if she had ever had cancer. “I am still jumping between what I think I know and what is reality. I have lived it and I’m not really there yet.”
The 26-year-old entrepreneur based her business around telling others how she had overcome cancer through “healthy living” and without the use of conventional medicine. Apple was seemingly so taken with the story that it flew her to Cupertino to work on delivering one of the first wave of Apple Watch apps — although this has since been pulled.
Gibson had previously admitted to being “misdiagnosed” by doctors, although it now seems that none of the story was true to begin with. In addition to the Apple publicity, Gibson also won (and subsequently lost) book deals with Penguin and Atria Books, while additionally raising thousands of dollars for charity and then allegedly failing to hand it over.
“I don’t want forgiveness, I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do,” Gibson says in the new interview. “Above anything, I would like people to say, ‘Okay, she’s human.'”
In all, the story is a pretty appalling one. Using a faked sob story to sell apps is bad enough, but the fact that doing so could also have a negative impact on others, by convincing genuine sufferers to skip out on legitimate treatment in terms of alternative methods, is downright reprehensible.
Source: News.com.au
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
8 responses to “Shamed Apple dev admits faking cancer to increase sales”
I would like people to say, ‘Okay, she’s human.’” …. Ummmmm NO..
She’s a disgusting SWINE.
What’s the difference between one load of B.S. being used to sell another load of B.S.?
Some people paid for the later.
seriously, anyone who thought this was true is such a fool. Anyone who is claiming miracles like this needs to back their statements up with facts/medical records. Not sure why people would listen to this random person instead of years of evidence based medicine when it comes to treating cancer.
To answer you, this is probably because many people are indoctrinated to believe in impossible things at a young age. P.T. Barnum was indeed correct… there is a sucker born every minute. Thankfully there are those of us who grow out of the indoctrination and face the world and reality with a somewhat more critical and skeptical approach. Would that more people ended the same way and the world would no doubt be a much better, safer, and saner place.
You cant blame people with cancer for looking for hope in all places seeing as how the cure for cancer has already been found, but the government would never allow it
But that’s murder if someone believed your word, and decided to give up surgery/chemical medical treatment and turned to “nature treatment”.
I am s 20+ year survivor of Stsge IV Melanoma, treated at MDAnderson Cancer Center in Houston. I can forgive her – but I might suggest to her that she donate the money she earned with her false story in a positive way for indigent cancer patients who don’t need to lie about their condition or treatment to solicit sympathy. And I would ask Apple to match her dollar for dollar.