Fiona Harvey Threatens to Sue Netflix and "Baby Reindeer" Creator Richard Gadd

Following the certified viral status of the recent Netflix series Baby Reindeer, Fiona Harvey has threatened to sue Netflix and the writer of the show, Scottish comedian Richard Gadd. 

Harvey is the real-life counterpart of the drama miniseries character Martha. The 48-year-old is reportedly a practicing lawyer from Scotland, similar to the character Martha, who has the same occupation. Baby Reindeer follows a man, Donny, who is stalked and harassed by a woman named Martha. The thriller has gripped fans around the world after its April 2024 release. 

Harvey, who is portrayed in the series as a stalker, has recently declared the Netflix hit as "defamatory" in a recent interview with Piers Morgan. "They have billed it as a true story, and so has he, and it's not," Harvey said. "He is lying and they are lying." 

Harvey was not named as the inspiration behind the character Martha, but the Internet quickly discovered her true identity, leading to large-scale harassment. Gadd urged fans not to speculate, but that didn't stop conspiracy-hungry followers from seeking out Harvey's social media profiles. 

In the interview with Morgan, the interviewer debated Harvey on the defamation claim and repeatedly asked her to confirm her facts. Per the BBC, the comedian claimed that Harvey "sent more than 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters."

When pressed, Harvey admitted that she sent several emails, tweets, and Facebook messages, but firmly declared that she did not have his phone number, so there was no way she could have called him or left voicemails. 

The series features numerous crimes committed by Martha, including intense stalking and sexual assault. Spoiler alert: Baby Reindeer ends with Martha headed to jail on counts of stalking. Harvey vehemently denied any relation between these fictional crimes. "That is completely untrue, very, very defamatory to me, very career damaging," she said.

In the wake of potential lawsuits against Netflix in regards to Baby Reindeer, the company's policy chief Benjamin King said: "We didn't want to anonymise that or make it generic to the point where it was no longer his story because that would undermine the intent behind the show." He continued, and said: "Ultimately, it's obviously very difficult to control what viewers do, particularly in a world where everything is amplified by social media. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with a world in which we decided it was better that Richard was silenced and not allowed to tell the story."