Alleged inspiration for 'Baby Reindeer' sues Netflix for $170 million

A woman who claims to be the inspiration for the stalker character in “Baby Reindeer” filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix on Thursday, according to multiple reports.

Fiona Harvey is seeking at least $170 million in damages. Harvey said that Martha Scott, the series' harassing character, was inaccurately based on her and that she was “forced” to come forward due to online harassment from viewers of the series.

“Like 'Martha,' Harvey is a Scottish lawyer living in London, twenty years older than Gadd, accused of trolling a lawyer in a newspaper article and who bears a striking resemblance to 'Martha,'” the suit states, according to NBC News. “Additionally, 'Martha's' accent, manner of speaking and cadence are indistinguishable from those of Harvey.”

The miniseries, released on Netflix in April, features a London comedian and bartender named Donny Dunn who struggles with sexual trauma and stalking over the course of seven episodes. Scottish writer and actor Richard Gadd created the series and stars in it as Donny, a fictionalized version of himself. Martha, the series' convicted stalker character, is played by Jessica Gunning.

The title card for “Baby Reindeer” calls the miniseries a “true story,” but the end credits add that certain aspects of the series “have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.”

According to Harvey's lawsuit, “Harvey's life had been ruined,” NBC News reported. “Quite simply, Netflix and Gadd destroyed his reputation, his character and his life.”

“The complaint is explicit. “Netflix destroyed a woman, claiming, among other allegations, that she was a doomed woman,” Richard Roth, Harvey's lawyer, said in an email, according to NBC News. “It never contacted her. He never checked the facts. He never made the slightest effort to understand the truth about his “real story!” »

In a statement, Netflix said it would “vigorously defend this matter” and “defend Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”

In an April interview with GQ, Gadd called his real-life Martha an “idiosyncratic person.”

“We tried so hard to disguise her that I don’t think she would recognize herself. What was borrowed is an emotional truth, not a made-up profile of someone,” he said.