Baby Reindeer‘s Richard Gadd has finally responded to a lawsuit from the woman who the Netflix show is reportedly based on.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month (July 6) in the US district court for the central district of California, Harvey accused the streaming giant of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence and violations of her right of publicity (via The Guardian).
It follows the huge success of the drama series, which was created and written by comedian Gadd. He also portrays a fictional version of himself, Donny, in the show.
The seven-part programme depicts Gadd’s real experience of being relentlessly stalked by an older woman called Martha. A title card in the first episode claims it is a “true story”, with many viewers subsequently attempting to find the real people behind the characters.
This led to Harvey giving her first TV interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, during which she threatened legal action against both Gadd and Netflix. She later said she was planning a case “against all those who have lied about me” in a lengthy statement.
Harvey identified herself as the inspiration behind Baby Reindeer, but denied many aspects of the story – including being a stalker, sending Gadd 41,000 emails, hundreds of voice messages and over 100 letters.
“I don’t think I sent him anything,” Harvey said in the interview. “There may have been a couple of emails, jokey banter, but that is it.”
Additionally, Harvey said Gadd needed to “prove” that she went to prison – as was depicted in the show. “I’ve never been sent to jail,” she told Morgan.
The lawsuit, which names Netflix as a defendant, says: “The lies that Defendants told about Harvey to over 50million people worldwide include that Harvey is a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison, and that Harvey sexually assaulted Gadd.
“Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.”
It adds: “Netflix, a multi-national billion-dollar entertainment streaming company did literally nothing to confirm the ‘true story’ that Gadd told. That is, it never investigated whether Harvey was convicted, a very serious misrepresentation of the facts.
“It did nothing to understand the relationship between Gadd and Harvey, if any … As a result of Defendants’ lies, malfeasance and utterly reckless misconduct, Harvey’s life had been ruined. Simply, Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life.”
Harvey is seeking at least $50millon (£39m) for actual damages, at least $50million in compensatory damages for “mental anguish, loss of enjoyment and loss of business”, as well as at least $50million for “all profits from Baby Reindeer“, and $20million (£15.6m) for punitive damages.
A spokesperson for Netflix said: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
Now, Gadd has responded to the suit, detailing what he describes as the “exhausting and extremely upsetting” stalking he allegedly experienced at the hands of Harvey in a 21-page document filed to a California court on July 29 (as per The Guardian).
In the document, Gadd claimed to have suffered years of “stalking, harassment, abuse and threats” from the plaintiff, Fiona Harvey, between 2014 and 2017. Gadd described Baby Reindeer as a “fictionalised retelling of my emotional journey through several extremely traumatic real experiences”.
He added: “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. It is fictionalised, and is not intended to portray actual facts.”
Baby Reindeer was based on a stage show Gadd performed at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival fringe.
Referring to that, he added: “Although these stage productions were emotionally true and based on real events in my life, they dramatised people, places, things, and events to tell a story…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.”
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Gadd described meeting Harvey while he was working at the Hawley Arms pub in London in 2014. He went on to allege that she “often attempted to touch me in inappropriate (and sometimes sexual) ways” and ignored his requests for her to stop.
He then says he reported her to the police in 2016 after two years of harassment, during which he claims he received “thousands of emails, hundreds of voicemails, and a number of handwritten letters” that were frequently “sexually explicit, violent” with “derogatory content, hateful speech, and threats”.
He added: “The cumulative effect of all of Harvey’s actions was enormous, It was exhausting and extremely upsetting to deal with her constant personal interactions in the Hawley Arms, her following me around London including near where I lived and her relentless and deeply unpleasant communications.”
Gadd went on to detail how a First Instance Harassment Warning was issued against Harvey in May 2016 after which he claims the emails and voicemails ceased. He went on to claim that he did, however, receive a handwritten letter from her with underwear inside in August 2017.
“Overall, it was an incredibly stressful and worrying time, with a sustained period of relentless behaviour taking place over several years. In a statement published last month, 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.’ I have never been charged with any crime, let alone been convicted, still less pleaded guilty and of course I have never been to prison for anything. This is how Gadd and Netflix chose to portray me in a TV show, for their own financial gain.”
She added: “The media firestorm around Baby Reindeer, and my rapid identification as the ‘real Martha,’ have caused untold damage to my health, my reputation, my job prospects and my ability to make sensible decisions about my welfare and best interests. This media firestorm continues, with daily bombardments of calls seeking comment on stories of every possible kind.”
For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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