The woman who claims she is the inspiration for Netflix‘s stalking drama Baby Reindeer is suing the streaming platform for $50million.
Fiona Harvey, who says lead character Martha’s life is based on her own, denies ever going to prison or to court, as the show portrays.
Harvey alleges Netflix allowed viewers to track her down in real life and that she is now being inundated with abuse, according to legal dossiers obtained by TMZ.
In the series Martha is depicted as a bunny-boiling stalker who is constantly harassing the protagonist Donny, played by Richard Gadd.
A legal showdown now looks set between Netflix and the woman who claims her supposed depiction in Baby Reindeer is untrue. Pictured: Fiona Harvey
Harvey claims that she is being bombarded with hate from around the world because of how Martha is portrayed in the Netflix hit.
She asserts that she never stalked Gadd, did not sexually assault him, nor was she ever convicted of stalking.
The Scot alleges that Netflix led viewers to believe that fictional elements of the show were factual.
As a result, Harvey is suing the show for defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of right of publicity, among other charges.
She is demanding more than $50million in damages.
It was previously revealed exclusively in the Mail that the show’s writer, Richard Gadd, who plays himself and based the premise on his own experiences, told makers Clerkenwell Films that his stalker was never convicted.
Sources indicate that Gadd told Clerkenwell that the stalker was the subject of an ‘exclusion order’ – a civil order and not the same as a criminal conviction of stalking.
This means that the show was always a fictionalized dramatization – though it went out under a banner which read ‘this is a true story’.
Richard Gadd, who wrote and starred in the miniseries, pictured in north London
Harvey says the show, which features Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning (pictured), makes false claims about her
Embarrassingly, a Netflix executive, Benjamin King, recently told a Commons committee that Gadd had suffered at the hands of ‘a convicted stalker’.
It’s not clear how Clerkenwell Films described the situation to Netflix, or what compliance procedures were undertaken.
Gadd previously said Martha’s identity was so well disguised that she would not recognize herself – but internet sleuths swiftly identified Harvey as Martha.
The actress who plays the character, Jessica Gunning, bears a strong resemblance to her.
In a previous interview, Gadd has said that the situation was ‘resolved’ but did not explain how. He added: ‘It’s very emotionally true. I was severely stalked and abused.’
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Harvey denied the stalking allegations though admitted she had met Gadd several times in Camden, north London.
She has instructed The Roth Law Firm in New York.
