Channel 9 paid Melbourne cancer-faker woman Belle Gibson $75,000 for story on ’60 Minutes’
Cancer-faker Belle Gibson had scammed a lot of people into believing she has terminal brain cancer. Even when she was already exposed as a fraud, she still managed to “victimise” a major Australian media company by receiving $75,000 payment for appearing on “60 Minutes.”
Three months before she appeared on “60 Minutes” in June 2015, Fairfax Media had already exposed Gibson theft of thousands of dollars which her company raised via multiple fundraising appeals. The expose questioned her claim of beating terminal brain cancer through healthy living, reports Sydney Morning Herald.
She eventually admitted to Australian Women’s Weekly that her cancer diagnosis was fake. Yet, after being exposed as a fraud, Channel Nine’s "60 Minutes" interviewed her. She did not make any disclosure about being paid for the interview, but there were rumours she was paid $45,000.
It turns out Gibson was paid an even higher amount of $75,000, according to documents obtained by Fairfax Media for the exclusive interview. The payments were made to Gibson’s lawyer and were split by Nine into two, amounting to $37500 each, according to invoices and remittance advice.
There is now an online petition, titled “Belle Gibson is still profiting off faking cancer,” with over 11,200 signatories so far, for Gibson to turn over the “60 Minutes” payment to cancer research.
However, Gibson insists she was “not trying to get away with everything,” although she has never apologised for what she did and even claims to help countless people, including cancer patients, dump traditional medicine.
Nine, criticised for its “chequebook journalism,” says the network as a policy of not disclosing details of payments made to any interview subjects on any of its shows, reports Daily Mail.
VIDEO: Sunday on 60 Minutes ǀ Belle Gibson – The Whole Hoax
Source: 60Minutes9