Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd responds to ‘real-life’ Martha’s lawsuit

Comedian Richard Gadd, who created and starred in Netflix’s smash hit Baby Reindeer, has detailed what he claims he experienced at the hands of the alleged stalker who inspired the show.

In a court document filed on Monday (29 July), Gadd said that while Baby Reindeer was “not a documentary”, rather a “fictionalised retelling” of his experience, the show does reflect his “extremely traumatic” and “extremely upsetting” encounters with stalking and harassment.

Netflix’s Baby Reindeer follows Gadd as Donny, a down-on-his luck comedian who starts a conversation with a woman named Martha, played by Jessica Gunning. However, she begins harassing him, his trans partner (Nava Mau), and his family, online and in person.

The show became one of the most-watched English-speaking Netflix series of all time, and recently garnered 11 Emmy nominations.

However, a woman called Fiona Harvey, who outed herself as the alleged inspiration for Martha, publicly denounced the show as “rubbish” and vowed to sue Gadd and Netflix.

In June, she filed a $170 million (£132 million) lawsuit against the streaming platform, alleging that she had been defamed because the show depicted Martha – whose real identity was said to have been identified by internet sleuths – as a convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison.

Harvey says she has never been convicted of a crime.

However, Netflix is looking to have the case thrown out of court and, supporting the streaming platform, Gadd said he eventually obtained a First Instance Harassment Warning against Harvey, after police advised him that reporting her could escalate the alleged harassment.

Harvey’s lawsuit also claimed that she was defamed by the show depicting Martha as sexually and physically assaulting Gadd’s character Donny. 

Netflix is hoping to secure a hearing in Los Angeles in September to have the lawsuit dismissed on the basis that Baby Reindeer’s depiction is substantially accurate.

Harvey’s claim does not name Gadd as a defendant.

In a 21-page statement about his alleged experience, Gadd detailed the “enormous” effect of her actions which he said were “exhausting and extremely upsetting” to deal with and that she continued “following me around London, including near where I lived”.

Gadd recalled Harvey memorising his shift patterns at the pub where he worked, sitting at the end of the bar, sometimes for the entire time he was on duty.

She allegedly began making “smutty innuendos” about the comedian around customers, but her actions escalated to a point of being “particularly intense”, including touching him in “inappropriate” ways.

“The attention was unwelcome and I found myself constantly trying to dodge Harvey’s advances and unwanted physical contact while serving tables,” he wrote in a declaration submitted to a Californian federal court. 

“I did ask Harvey to leave me alone and refrain from making advances towards me on several occasions. However, she ignored my requests and, as with her wider behaviour, she was persistent and relentless.”

Other alleged incidences detailed in Gadd’s statement largely reflect what Baby Reindeer depicts, in terms of Harvey’s allegedly malicious and explicit communications.

“These communications often included sexually explicit, violent and derogatory content, hateful speech and threats,” Gadd claimed. These included personal insults, sexually explicit propositions, and homophobic, Islamophobic and xenophobic remarks, he added.

In one communication in May 2016, Harvey is alleged to have written to Gadd: “I can’t stand this gay business… it makes me squirm actually.”

Gadd went on to say: “I was scared of Harvey and what she might be capable of. I was panicked and paranoid. I was terrified about getting on Tubes and buses for fear of seeing her. I genuinely was worried that she might harm me or my parents.

“In short, her actions took an extensive toll on my physical, and especially my mental, well-being. It was an incredibly stressful and worrying time, with a sustained period of relentless behaviour taking place over several years.”