(Credits: Netflix)

Following the intense success of the recent Netflix documentary The Man With 1000 Kids, its subject, Dutch sperm donor Jonathan Meijer, has levelled a lawsuit against the streaming service. The documentary alleged that Meijer fathered up to 3000 children via sperm donation. However, the 43-year-old claims he only fathered 550.

Announcing the lawsuit on Wednesday [September 4th], Meijer claimed that he wished to protect his hundreds of children and combat the “media’s lust to make some kind of spectacle out of this.” Speaking about the claims made in the Netflix documentary to Dutch outlet NPO 1, he said, “Five hundred and fifty, that’s the number I know for sure. Anything above that is just speculation.”

Aside from focusing on his prolific donation of sperm, the Netflix documentary, which premiered in July, also detailed various crimes and allegations levelled against Jonathan Meijer. For example, after a Dutch court ordered him to stop donating sperm, in accordance with the law in the Netherlands, Meijer would allegedly donate sperm under various pseudonyms or approach couples directly via the internet.

One of the most bizarre allegations levelled in the hit documentary was that Meijer would occasionally mix his sperm with that of another donor, using the process as something of a competition to see whose sperm would eventually achieve impregnation. A court later ruled that the donor had intentionally deceived both clinics and parents, leading to the birth of hundreds of unknowing half-siblings, which could lead to major consequences down the line.

Meijer himself was invited to take part in the documentary, which was composed of three separate instalments. However, he refused to engage with Netflix at the time, sharing that he was unwilling to “cooperate with such a shady company.” Instead, Meijer used his own personal YouTube channel to share his side of the story and combat many of the claims made by the streaming giants.

It is likely that the lawsuit levelled against Netflix will focus largely on the exact number of children Meijer has fathered over the years. After all, a lot of the various crimes and wrongdoings perpetrated by the Dutchman have already been verified by courts in the Netherlands, so suing Netflix would be a pretty pointless endeavour. 

Either way, this lawsuit adds to Netflix’s growing legal troubles. Most notably, the platform is currently being sued by Fiona Harvey, the real woman who allegedly provided the inspiration for Richard Gadd’s hit series Baby Reindeer. Harvey is pursuing the company for $170 million in damages, citing defamation.