“It is not a documentary or an attempt at realism.”Fiona Harvey, the real-life individual revealed to be the inspiration behind Richard Gadd‘s Baby Reindeer character Martha, is suing Netflix for a whopping $170 million.
Gadd portrayed himself in the series that took the world by storm earlier this year in April now says he is prepared to testify on behalf of Netflix against the “real-life” Martha Scott.
Although the actor and comedian hasn’t been named as an official defendant in the lawsuit against Netflix by Fiona Harvey, he’s ready to back them nonetheless.
You can watch the trailer for the series below:
Gadd, who goes by the name of Donny in the series, gripped the streamer’s audiences when telling the story based on various true events.
In the show, Donny is harassed and stalked by Martha for several years, all while the stress of trying to become a successful comedian rises as time goes on.
Martha sends Donny 41,000 emails, 744 tweets, 100 pages of letters and 350 hours of voicemails after meeting him at a pub in London where he served as a bartender.
She is later sent to prison for nine months in the show that calls itself a “true story”.
The “real-life” Martha was quickly found on social media by fans of the series.
Tweets sent to Gadd by Harvey were discovered soon afterwards, dating back years with her telling him how she wanted him to “hang her curtains,” also mentioned in the show.
Although the character in the show has a different name, Harvey stated that she has “no doubt that the character of ‘Martha’ in Baby Reindeer was intended to be a portrayal” of her.
“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.”
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.”
Nobody ever asked for my permission to present me in this way or to use my image at all.”
Now, in a 21-page legal declaration, Gadd has addressed the lawsuit.
“I created, wrote and starred in the Netflix series Baby Reindeer (the “series”),” Gadd declared.
“I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth below and, if called as a witness, could and would testify competently thereto.”
“I submit this declaration in support of defendants Netflix, Inc., and Netflix Worldwide Entertainment, LLC’s special motion to strike,” he added.
He also noted that the show is about his “personal struggles with my sexual identity and experiences with sexual abuse, and harassment.”
He went on to explain how the show is “not a documentary or an attempt at realism.”
“The series is a dramatic work,” he says.
“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 fictionalized and is not intended to portray actual facts.”
However, he describes Harvey as being “handy” toward him with details of Gadd attempting to avoid physical contact when she would repeatedly attend his venue after figuring out when he would be working.
Gadd notes how Harvey became “increasingly hostile” toward him as the years went on, sending “thousands of emails, hundreds of voicemails and a number of handwritten letters.”
“These communications often included sexually explicit, violent and derogatory content as well as hateful speech and threats.”
To back his claims, Gadd added a string of emails aka “exhibits” that were sent to him from Harvey during that time period, all provided in his document.
“I continually changed my daily routines to try to avoid her and would not spend time in parts of London I knew Harvey frequented (indeed I am still apprehensive about going to certain parts of London because of her),” he says.
One critical point Harvey wasn’t happy about was that the show depicted her serving time in prison, which in real life never actually happened.
However, Gadd never addressed the prison points in his statement, but did explain how the events in the show weren’t intended to be perceived as entirely factual.
