(Credits: Netflix)

The creator of Baby Reindeer and the show’s main star, Richard Gadd, has spoken out about the “Exhausting and extremely upsetting” stalking he allegedly experienced by the same woman who is currently suing Netflixover the way that she was portrayed in the series.

Gadd has filed a 21-page document with the California court on Monday where he described years of “Stalking, harassment, abuse and threats” at the hands of Fiona Harvey between the years 2014 and 2017. Gadd is having to issue the document as part of the case which has been filed by Fiona Harvey, who has accused Netflix of defamation, negligence, gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the way they portrayed her in the series. The controversy comes from how strongly Baby Reindeer was promoted as being “A true story.”

Though Harvey isn’t named in the series, she was publicly identified as the inspiration behind Martha Scott, who stalks Gadd’s character throughout the Netflix series. Harvey denies being a stalker and states she never sent 41,000 emails to Gadd, hundreds of voice messages and 106 letters, as the show claims. She affirms she only sent a few emails, one letter and about 18 messages on X, known as Twitter at the time.

Going back slightly on the “True story” element that was heavily pushed by Netflix surrounding Baby Reindeer, Gadd wrote in his court filing (via The Guardian) that the show is a “Fictionalised retelling of my emotional journey through several extremely traumatic real experiences.”

He continued, “The series is a dramatic work. It is not a documentary or an attempt at realism. While the series is based on my life and real-life events and is, at its core, emotionally true, it is not a beat-by-beat recounting of the events and emotions I experienced as they transpired.” He went on to reaffirm, “It is fictionalised, and is not intended to portray actual facts.”

Gadd also discussed the theatre production of the series he took to the Edinburgh Fringe, which inspired the Netflix adaptation. “Although these stage productions were emotionally true and based on real events in my life, they dramatized people, places, things, and events to tell a story.” He continued, “I did not write the series as a representation of actual facts about any real person, including Fiona Harvey… Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey.”

Harvey is suing Netflix for multiple damages, including $50m for actual damages, $50m for compensatory damages for “Mental anguish, loss of enjoyment and loss of business,” $50m for “all profits,” and $20m for punitive damages.

This remains a developing story, more information on the case will be provided as the case progresses.