A Scottish woman, Fiona Harvey, has ignited a firestorm by suing streaming giant Netflix for a whopping $170 million. Harvey claims the popular dark comedy series Baby Reindeer is anything but funny – for her.
Harvey, who has publicly identified herself as the inspiration for Martha, alleges that the show defamed her by portraying her as a convicted criminal and sexual predator, accusations she vehemently denies.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S District Court for the Central District of California.
Harvey’s lawsuit accuses Netflix of telling “brutal lies” and fabricating a sensational story for viewership.
“The lies that defendants told about Harvey to over 50 million people worldwide include that Harvey is a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison and that Harvey sexually assaulted Gadd,” the suit reads.
“Defendants told these lies and never stopped because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.”
As a result, “Harvey’s life had been ruined. Simply, Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life,” the suit added.
Baby Reindeer chronicles Gadd’s (played by himself under the name Donny Dunn) struggle with a relentless stalker named Martha. The show depicts Martha bombarding Dunn with emails and voicemails, even escalating to physical harassment.
While Gadd has obscured identifying details of the real-life Martha, Harvey contends that online sleuths easily identified her due to shared characteristics like profession, location, and even specific phrases used in Baby Reindeer.
She also claims that Netflix’s portrayal has had severe consequences – she’s received death threats, become a target of online harassment, and fears leaving her home due to public scrutiny.
Netflix has vowed to “defend this matter vigorously” and to “stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
Gadd, however, is not named as a defendant in Fiona Harvey’s lawsuit.
The first episode of Baby Reindeer states, “This is a true story,” but the end credits say that the show “is based on real events: however, certain characters, names, incidents, locations, and dialogue have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Neither Richard Gadd nor Fiona Harvey’s real names have been used in the series, and neither Netflix nor Mr Gadd has confirmed that Martha’s character was based on Ms Harvey.
During a parliamentary session last month, Netflix executive Benjamin King defended Baby Reindeer, describing it as “a true story of the horrific abuse” that Richard Gadd endured from a “convicted stalker.” However, this assertion was promptly challenged by SNP MP John Nicolson, who pointed out the lack of journalistic evidence supporting the claim of a conviction.
For her part, Fiona Harvey claims in her lawsuit that Netflix “did literally nothing” to confirm that Gadd’s story was true.
She seeks over $170 million in damages, including:
- at least $50 million for actual damages
- at least $50 million in compensatory damages for “mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of business.”
- at least $50 million “for all profits from Baby Reindeer
- at least $20 million in punitive damages
These amounts do not include legal fees or costs, documents obtained by Variety show.
The outcome of Harvey’s lawsuit could set a significant precedent for how real-life stories are adapted for the screen and the responsibilities of content creators to verify their claims.
