'Cancer survivor' Belle Gibson hires defamation lawyer
The besieged health and wellness guru who has been accused of embellishing her cancer survival story to build an online health empire has reportedly hired a media and defamation lawyer to fight her case.
Fairfax reports Belle Gibson enlisted the help of a Melbourne law firm amid accusations she misled the public about her illness to help develop her business and claims she failed to deliver on promised donations to several charities.
It is understood the 23-year-old was due to meet her lawyer this morning.
Ms Gibson launched her app and recipe book, The Whole Pantry, on the premise of having survived brain cancer for five years and other life-threatening cancers, spurning conventional treatments in favour of wholefood and natural remedies.
However, the veracity of her claims was called into question following an investigation by The Australian, which revealed serious inadequacies in her story.
In July last year, Ms Gibson told her followers she had been diagnosed with cancer of the liver, spleen, blood and uterus, but according to a report in The Australian this week, she now says it is possible the diagnosis may have been a mistake.
Close friends also revealed they had questioned Ms Gibson’s diagnosis and medical experts raised doubts over her story, saying it simply did not add up.
Ms Gibson remained tight-lipped when doubts were cast over the legitimacy of her health claims and business practices this week.
The social media entrepreneur has not responded to numerous phone calls and emails from Fairfax media.
Consumer Affairs has confirmed its investigating Belle Gibson who claims business proceeds have been donated to various charities yet neither her nor her companies are registered fundraisers in Victoria.
Fairfax reports The Whole Pantry's release in Europe and the US next month is now in doubt, with major US publisher Simon & Schuster investigating the claims.
Penguin publishing house and Apple, who are both heavily invested in The Whole Pantry, have also been heavily criticized for failing to check Ms Gibson’s story.
The Whole Pantry has not responded to accusations Ms Gibson fabricated her cancer story, but the company has responded to accusations it withheld charitable donations.
It released a statement earlier this week, saying it 'bit off more than it could chew and struggled with juggling internal and external priorities with little staff'.
It has done little to appease followers of the organisation who say they feel let down and disappointed while others have demanded refunds for the app and recipe book.
