When this all broke out a couple days ago, many (myself included) were left wondering how a company as big and successful as Apple could possible not vet their business partners. Surely if anyone had the resources to really look into Belle's story, it would be Apple. But then we heard an unexpected announcement from Apple. It turns out that they did not care about what Belle did; so long as the app worked, that was all that mattered to them. I guess that explains why they do not vet people. To Apple, the ethics and morals of the people they work with is irrelevant. The actual content of the app is not all that special. So long as it works the way an app is supposed to work, they see no reason to change anything. Got it.
Since Apple is obviously self-centered in their thinking, I thought it only fair to point something out to them: Belle was taking the piss out of Steve Jobs and his death from cancer. Just yesterday, I read that the current Apple CEO, Tim Cook, once offered to give Steve Jobs a part of his liver. Wow, that Tim Cook does not sound like just a work colleague, he sounds like he was a really good friend to Steve Jobs. I assume that Tim Cook was a first-hand witness to all the misery and suffering that Steve Jobs went through in his final days. I assume he saw a vibrant, energetic genius in a weakened and despondent state. I assume he also heard Steve Jobs say he regretted using fantasy-based medicine. But most of all I assume that Tim Cook will always mourn the loss of a very dear friend to him. Tim Cook should be that good friend once more and honor Steve Jobs' memory. He should do the right thing and sever business ties with a woman who thought everything Steve Jobs went through in his final years was a just a big joke.
So now we know why she has been so quiet. No need for damage control. Belle can just sit back and watch the $$$ roll in.
ReplyDeleteI do not think with the amount of publicity being given to her misdeeds people are going for this app and downloading at the rate they did before. It is my view that Apple will no longer feature this App. Doing that along will bring down the number of downloads. Also note that the App has negative reviews/comments underneath the App as people are exposing her misdeeds on App store too.
DeleteAfter this whole mess, I can't really see her being employed by anyone else ever again, or anyone buying anything she sells, so hopefully for her and her son's sake, the apple money will be enough to last for a very long time, as she wont be getting any money from anywhere else!
ReplyDeleteCA Victoria investigation into her fundraising is critical as it will confirm "False or misleading representations" in relation to her promotion of App. That alone should be in violation of the Apple legal terms as I said in another post.
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope the investigation does result in something tangible, Sundar. I wish Apple was a little more outraged.
DeleteThis is an old video from 2014 of Belle Gibson discussing (from the US) her involvement with Apple and the Apple Watch.
ReplyDeletehttp://media.theage.com.au/news/national-times/melbourne-mothers-apple-watch-secret-5753050.html
The thing to note is the date - September 2014 - she looks awfully healthy for someone who had just announced weeks ago that she had metastatic cancer in her blood, liver, spleen, uterus and kidneys. Not to mention the 'brain cancer', strokes and fits she was allegedly suffering from.
Wow - what an awkward and fumbly interview, she really cannot string a sentence together!
DeleteI know!
DeleteI read about her 'rambling rant' to her Facebook friends today. She's always come across as a bit rough and I guess her true colours are starting to show now that she's under pressure. The tweets that she wrote in 2009 and on the skater forum are completely at odds with the image she was trying to portray with TWP.
I wasn't a follower of Jess Ainscough, but one thing I did notice about Jess is that she seemed to have a certain sense of class about her, whereas Belle doesn't.
Probably more social class than 'class' Jess was from a middle class background. Belle is from a rough, working class area and family. It shows. Can't judge her for her social class though. Can judge her for being a lying psychopath.
DeleteI've noticed this too. In the photos online, prior to all this, she looked stunning - beautiful, radiant and healthy. But when you see her on video, or listen to her talking, that image collapses. She's not articulate, she's not particularly smart, and she looks a little ordinary. I know that's a horrible thing to say, but she did build her company on her own image, and saturate the public with vivid images of her pencil-perfect brows and snow-white porcelain veneers. So it's interesting, now that the veneer has crumbled, to see that without Instagram filters she's just an ordinary girl.
DeleteThe interviews I've listened to, too, are just rambling, meaningless corporate lingo. She keeps talking about "accessible platforms" and "the community" and "resources," but she's not actually saying anything meaningful or coherent. Not to mention using words like "everythink" and "esstatic."
I downloaded her app when it first came out, sang her praises and followed her on IG. Then I saw an interview she did on the breakfast program Sunrise and was so underwhelmed by her! She's very different on video than in print and the first thing that strikes me is how young she sounds and behaves. I stopped following her a while back because I got sick of the selfies and duck faces she'd continually post on IG. Her lack of transparency always bothered me. Now I can see why.
DeleteShe struck me as very blah in that segment too. She was nothing like the image she had cultivated for herself online. So I am not Australian and I wanted to ask if her accent gives away her "working class" roots.
DeleteI wouldn't say her accent in that clip is "working class" it's more so her lack of intelligence! She honestly sounds like she'sunder the influence of medication of some sort!?
DeleteThe first video I saw of her was that recent Sunrise link and yes, I realised she was not anywhere near as eloquent or articulate as, say Jess Ainscough was. She was particularly inarticulate during the studio interview - she sounded about 14 years old.
DeleteYes, for all that Jessica Ainscough was misguided, I could tell by the way she spoke that she was highly intelligent. Belle just seemed sort of disinterested in the whole thing.
DeleteYes, Violet, it does. The rising inflection gives her roots away. The meaning-free nature of what she said gives everything else away.
DeleteI can't even begin to express my disappointment. Unfortunately despite what most people would consider the right moral decision, it appears that Apple is continuing to support TWP/Belle Gibson. I naively thought that money would not override the desire to do the "right thing". As another contributor mentioned, this explains Apple's stunning
ReplyDeletesilence. Basically they (and probably the publishers) hope the coverage will die down and the cash will keep coming in. It is very important to remember, also as mentioned by someone else, that whilst this is big news here, it is limited to a handful of international articles. Given the potential millions of downloaders in the US alone, even if 50% of the market walked away, there's still a lot of money to be made ! I also believe that the app does not mention Belle Gibson and has been worded completely around the TWP brand ?
I can't understand why Apple can't do what Elle Magazine did, and just issue a "wow, I guess we were wrong" kind of statement. Just taking a little step to distance themselves publicly from her would be better than nothing. But what they've said is essentially "we don't actually care." That really rubs angry consumers up the wrong way, especially when many of those consumers are vulnerable people who followed Belle's health advice.
Deletehttp://m.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/belle-gibson-slams-fake-cancer-claims-in-online-rant/story-fni0fit3-1227262615654
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know where this online 'rant' is?
It was written on her private FB account under alias Harry Gibson. She's warning her friends.
Deleteyes it is on her personal account 'harry gibson'
DeleteI wonder if anyone has reported her fb account yet as it's against fb terms to use a fake name...
DeleteWhen you google Belle Gibson Google tells you:
ReplyDeleteBelle Gibson
Businessperson
Belle Gibson, 26, is the entrepreneur behind The Whole Pantry recipe and health app, which she created after she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Daily Mail
Partner: Clive Rothwell
Children: Olivier Corbett
Feedback
I pressed feedback and reported her age and terminal brain cancer are lies. Anyone else done the same?
DeleteSteve Jobs had entirely operable and curable cancer which he ignored. He drank his own piss and followed magical cures that did nothing. Don't think he was some kind of martyr.
ReplyDeleteHe did admit he regretted that. Though, even moreso than Jess Ainscough, I think he ought to have gone public
ReplyDeleteSteve Jobs didn't really have a curable cancer, I believe he was in a pretty bad situation. Didn't he have pancreatic cancer? The survival rates for this cancer are very low.
ReplyDeleteThis right here is a very good summary. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/one-more-thing/
DeleteI hope everyone understands that the point of my post was not really to talk about Steve Jobs' choices in treating his cancer. Rather, it was to point out that Belle Gibson has been using the suffering of cancer patients (like Steve Jobs) to gain wealth and fame.
There are different types of pancreatic cancer. Steve Jobs had an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which he described as a "very rare form of pancreatic cancer...which represents about 1 percent of the total cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year, and can be cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time." He eschewed conventional medicine until it was too late.
DeleteFrom Wikipedia:
Despite his diagnosis, Jobs resisted his doctors' recommendations for medical intervention for nine months, instead consuming a pseudo-medicine diet in an attempt to thwart the disease. According to Harvard researcher Ramzi Amri, his choice of alternative treatment "led to an unnecessarily early death."Cancer researcher and alternative medicine critic David Gorski "disagreed with Amri's assessment," stating, "My best guess was that Jobs probably only modestly decreased his chances of survival, if that."Barrie R. Cassileth, the chief of Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center's integrative medicine department, said "Jobs’s faith in alternative medicine likely cost him his life.... He had the only kind of pancreatic cancer that is treatable and curable.... He essentially committed suicide."According to Jobs's biographer, Walter Isaacson, "for nine months he refused to undergo surgery for his pancreatic cancer – a decision he later regretted as his health declined."'
As Jobs himself regretted ignoring his doctors' advice, I don't think it's disrespectful to his memory to be critical of Apple's support for Belle Gibson and her nutcasery.
^Sorry, there should be a single quote mark before "Declined." That whole paragraph is quoted from the Wikipedia entry on Steve Jobs.
DeleteThanks Ella.That is quite correct in what you said. While media has always reported that Jobs had pancreatic cancer, he did indeed have neuroendocrine cancer of the pancreas - a very different diagnosis to the more common pancreatic cancer. However, what was not written was he was offered treatment for it in Aust but chose to forgo it. Neuroendocrine cancer is not 'cured' by surgery. Surgery is performed and or treatments depending on the extent of and the placement of the cancers. Sorry, I just needed to clarify this for everyone.
DeleteThanks, that's very helpful. I don't have a very clear understanding of it, so your info fills out the picture!
DeleteApple should not condone this behavior,
ReplyDeleteare comments being deleted here too?
ReplyDeleteI don't delete them (unless they are a double post). If I delete them for that reason then I always explain why, so you should be able to tell if a comment was ever deleted. I sometimes find comments in the spam folder, but that is the only reason from my end at least why they might not show up.
DeleteWith the longer thread on the last post, some comments weren't showing up some of the time. All my comments were witty, sparkling and germane, so it must have been a technical glitch. ;)
DeleteAlso, I think if for some reason the comment doesn't post the first time, and then you try again, blogspot automatically flags the comment as spam.
Yes that is probably what happened. I think maybe sometimes people do not click on the "load more" button. I wish that the comment system here was better too. When I started the blog, I thought I would get like 10 comments at the most.
DeleteCan anyone link to the photo/s on the Australian article where she is wearing sunglasses and has dark hair? The very myspace-esque one.
ReplyDeleteThe image can be seen here https://www.facebook.com/bellegibsonuncovered
Deletebut I think the Australian have removed the image from their article.
Try this:
Deletehttp://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp107/sadiemonsterbooradley/belle%20sunglasses_zps6bzvjmxc.jpg
They had three images attached to the Australian article, and you had to scroll through them. Maybe that's why it isn't showing up for some?
DeleteI'm horrified by this story, especially as someone with breast cancer... and I would seriously love to see her end up in jail. I don't think she has Munchausen's, just think she is a straight up con artist. So in regards to continuing to make money off her deal with Apple... it got me thinking about the Australian' governments Proceeds of Crime legislation- ie criminials can't profit from their criminal misdeeds... http://www.afp.gov.au/policing/proceeds-of-crime. Do you think that the deal would come under this legislation given she came to get the deal because of a fraudulent act- misrepresenting herself??? or is this the same as Penguin basically saying.. oh we just published the book as a recipe book???? Would love to hear an expert legal opinion on this. And Thanks Again Violet, for taking the time to unravel this disgraceful area of quackery Mim.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be some nexus to criminal conduct. I think most likely fraud in relation to the donations raised for charity.
DeleteFor anyone who is concerned, you can write to the Australian Federal Police and Victorian police to request they investigate and initiate proceeds of crime action. I would also write to your local members and relevant police ministers to push for action to be taken.
I seem to recall a disclaimer at the front of the book in regards to any health benefits. In very small writing and you had to look for it. In terms of profiting from crime, maybe given the Apple deal was done in the US and Apple do not appear to have a problem with it, that may not be relevant. Whilst we all know she was saying her diet "cured" her cancer, the book may be worded that that is her opinion and the rest is purely recipes, She may also have been savvy enough to have the proceeds of sales go to her son or partner as surely she must have known that one day this would all come to a head ...
ReplyDeleteIf she has engaged in criminal conduct - Australia's proceeds of crime laws allows property and assets to be confiscated if the property is in a person's 'effective control'. This means that if a person has put money in their child's bank account but they are, in reality and fact, the one in control of the account - law enforcement authorities can apply for the money in the account to be confiscated.
DeleteThis stops people from putting money in the name of their spouse etc. to prevent their illicit profits being confiscated by the government.
In short, Australian law allows proceeds of crime to be confiscated even if the property is in the legal name of another person.
Good!
Deletehttps://www.apple.com/au/watch/app-store-apps/
ReplyDeleteThey are still promoting/using her app...
I understand that Apple can't and won't police the contents of apps. They've said this before.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it's damn disgraceful and outrageous for them to continue to work for this lying little so & so. In my opinion this app should no longer be a part of the preloaded content of the new Apple Watch. And Apple should not continue to promote it. Apple can say it can stay for sale - people can make up their own minds if they want to support it (there's more negative reviews by the day - there were even before this all started!) but Apple needs to STOP pushing it and it's lies into people.
If you check the apple watch site, it is listed in the app store now not on included apps. And a new app, the green kitchen which i swear was not there before is listed in the watch app store app list. On their company facebook page, they announced an app for apple watch on 9th march.
ReplyDeleteAlso, i think it provides an excuse if people claim munchausens for this. It feels like a con, pure and simple. A long con, played out over years. Many people who behave this way display characteristics of antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. Bpd has its origins in chronic trauma and is treatable. But antisocial personality disorder is not treatable because the person lacks empathy or remorse. Sorry for armchair analysis here. Not making a diagnosis of attempting too, just commenting on the reported behavior. Based on all of it I have grave concerns for the wellbeing of her child and herself. I hope she does not harm him, or herself.
I'm in Apple right now, and The Whole Pantry app is preloaded on all their iPads. Will be interesting to see if gets removed.
Deletehttp://iconosquare.com/p/485233841601675885_432312719
ReplyDeleteanother alias?
view-source:https://web.archive.org/web/20130507003612/http://instagram.com/healing_onlybelle
DeleteIf you press Ctrl+F and type in:
"username":"healing_onlybelle"
You can see some of her comments on the photos in the code. Annoying, but better than nothing :)
At the bottom, she says;
Delete"naturally healing brain trauma, cancer \u0026 intestinal damage. \u2600 Focused on living an active, minimal, conscious life. Come join!"
Perhaps Apple would listen if people started to email them and start an online petition.
ReplyDeleteThis feedback form on the Apple website should allow for our voices to be heard: http://www.apple.com/feedback/mail.html
Does anyone know if there is a petition online regarding the promotion of the app??
It appears that the Whole Pantry app is gone from the app store... at least in the US. Maybe Apple is seeing the light?
ReplyDeleteIt's still there on the Apple Watch page. Grrrrr.
DeleteIt's still on the Watch page and the iPad page (where it is the feature app for the Cooking category), but if you click the link it just takes you to a "this product is not available in the Australian iTunes store" error message. Does that mean that it is still pre-loaded on the watch, despite not being in the store anymore, or does it mean that it will off the devices and the marketing department at Apple just haven't caught up yet?
DeleteThe apps on the app page are not preloaded into the watch at the time of purchase, but are to be available to download on launch day. So no, Whole Pantry is not and would never be installed onto anyone's apple watch that didn't specifically choose to purchase it. I'm guessing that they'll redo that page sooner or later, and the watch app will never be released at all.
DeleteThanks for that explanation M. - I wonder if Apple will publicly acknowledge the app being removed etc, or just stay silent and hope everyone forgets about this once the news cycle ticks over. Considering the publishers in the US have been open about their decision, it makes Apple look pretty bad if they don't say anything also.
DeleteWhole pantry has gone from the AU App Store aswell!
ReplyDeleteApp gone, Facebook gone, Insta no longer private but all posts have been deleted (that would of taken a while...).
ReplyDeleteI imagine the talk of lawyers and "open letter" was probably lies too. Hopefully we never need to hear of her ever again!
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/the-whole-pantry-belle-gibsons-app-quietly-pulled-from-sale-in-australia-us-20150317-1m1234.html
ReplyDelete'quietly pulled'
book gone, app gone, facebook gone - its all over. if she'd eve had cancer, we would know by now!
Yes i am totally agreed with this article and i just want say that this article is very nice and very informative article.I will make sure to be reading your blog more. You made a good point but I can't help but wonder, what about the other side? !!!!!!THANKS!!!!!! Internships in Kwazulu Natal
ReplyDeleteYes i am totally agreed with this article and i just want say that this article is very nice and very informative article.I will make sure to be reading your blog more. You made a good point but I can't help but wonder, what about the other side? !!!!!!THANKS!!!!!! job websites
ReplyDeleteI quite like reading an article that can make people think. Also, thanks for allowing for me to comment! Talent Management
ReplyDeleteI quite like reading an article that can make people think. Also, thanks for allowing for me to comment! Rugby World Cup 2019 Live Stream
ReplyDeleteI was diagnosed as HEPATITIS B carrier in 2013 with fibrosis of the
ReplyDeleteliver already present. I started on antiviral medications which
reduced the viral load initially. After a couple of years the virus
became resistant. I started on HEPATITIS B Herbal treatment from
ULTIMATE LIFE CLINIC there website is (ultimatelifeclinic. com) in March, 2020. Their
treatment totally reversed the virus. I did another blood test after
the 6 months long treatment and tested negative to the virus. Amazing
treatment! This treatment is a breakthrough for all HBV carriers.