When Baby Reindeer premiered on Netflix on April 11th, it didn’t take long for fans to seek out the real Martha. They quickly identified Fiona Harvey as the woman believed to be Richard Gadd’s previous stalker, finding old Facebook posts and Tweets from accounts under her name that resembled dialogue used in the show.
Now, Harvey, who revealed herself as the inspiration behind the show earlier this month when she was interviewed by Piers Morgan, is planning to file a lawsuit against Gadd, Netflix and Clerkenwell Films.
She has released a statement (via Deadline) explaining her plans to take legal action, stating that the show’s popularity has caused her lots of stress. Harvey wrote: “I have no doubt that the character of ‘Martha’ in Baby Reindeer was intended to be a portrayal of me. The problem for Richard Gadd and now for Netflix is that Baby Reindeer is not a true story at all. I am not a ‘convicted stalker’.”
In the show, Gadd, who claims to have created Baby Reindeer based on his real-life experience of being stalked and sexually harassed, stars as a fictionalised version of himself, Donny Dunn. The struggling comedian honestly explains his encounters with ‘Martha’, a woman he meets while working as a bartender who quickly forms an obsessive infatuation with him. As the series progresses, Martha becomes more and more intense, sending hundreds of emails a day, sitting outside his house, attacking his girlfriend, and harassing his parents.
Once Harvey was supposedly identified as the real Martha, she hit back at viewers of the show who claimed she was a stalker, stating that she had only met Gadd a handful of times and was never interested in him.
“Nobody ever approached me for any comment on the accuracy of Baby Reindeer, or the very serious and damaging allegation that I am a convicted criminal, with a serious criminal record, who has spent time in prison,” she added in her statement.
Harvey continued, “With the assistance of a senior English lawyer, Chris Daw KC, I am putting together a legal team, in the UK and in the US, to take forward legal action against all of those who have lied about me and used my image to make large sums of money for themselves, with such damaging consequences for me and my family.”
Gadd has not publicly responded to any of Harvey’s statements thus far.
