Netflix faces $170 million defamation lawsuit over ‘Baby Reindeer’

A Scottish woman sued this Thursday Netflix for at least 170 million dollars. Is about Fiona Harveywho accuses the company of having been defamed for its portrayal of a stalker in the successful miniseries “Baby Reindeer”.

Harvey, the plaintiff, He publicly claimed to be the inspiration for the character of Martha played by actress Jessica Gunning, with whom she shares a physical resemblance and, like her, is a lawyer in London.

But in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Harvey said Netflix and the creator of “Baby Reindeer”Richard Gadd, went too far in suggesting throughout the series, which calls itself a “true story”that she was a stalker twice sentenced to five years in prison.

Harvey denied harassing Gadd, who on the show plays a fictional version of himself named Donny Dunn, or having been convicted or imprisoned. He added that many people couldn’t tell the difference, and thousands of Reddit and TikTok users They talk about her as the “real” Martha.

“The defendants told these lies, and they never stopped telling them, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money,” the lawsuit says. The amount sought in the lawsuit is for punitive damages, compensatory damages, including mental anguish and profits, and punitive damages. Harvey sued two days after Netflix settled a defamation lawsuit by former prosecutor Linda Fairstein over her portrayal in “The Way They See Us,” a 2019 series about the Central Park Five rape case three decades earlier.

Netflix agreed to move the beginning of episodes from the end credits a warning that some characters may have been altered for dramatic purposes. He also agreed to donate $1 million to a nonprofit that helps free wrongfully convicted people.

Baby Reindeer’s real stalker appeared on television: “Gadd is psychotic and completely crazy”

During her appearance on the public scene, the woman declared that she was actually the victim.therefore, “the story is badly told.” Harvey noted that he wants to “tell his truth and make things clear,” even though he stated that he had not seen the audiovisual piece.

The Interview with Fiona Harvey It was published on Piers Morgan’s YouTube channel, and spread in fragments through his social networks. For approximately an hour, the presenter investigated the various topics that generated the most doubt and controversy among viewers of the series.

Firstly, one of the aspects that draws the most attention is perhaps the reindeer toy that Martha had, and which gives its name to the series. “She had a toy reindeer and he had shaved his head, that’s true, and There were reindeer in the stores because it was Christmas or something like that. That was a joke. So I inadvertently wrote the name of the show,” Harvey confirmed.

Among the statements that generated the most controversy after the interview, Harvey’s denial of having been the harasser stands out: “It was he who asked me to have sex. I told him I wasn’t interested, that I had a boyfriend, and I stopped him right away.” dry”. “Gadd is psychotic and completely crazy,” he denounced. the woman, who also claimed to have seen the comedian “two or three times in her life.”

“I’m not lying, well, “I tell white lies if absolutely necessary.”Harvey noted and assured that she he was never in prison. In turn, she stated that she regrets having entered the bar where she met Gadd, a place she visited frequently for three months “since he went to eat often,” as she explained.

During the meeting, Harvey also shared information about his private life and the love relationship she has had with a lawyer for five years. “He thinks this is horrendous. “All my lawyer friends think so and so do other people,” he explained and assured that “people are being very understanding.”People I don’t know say things like, ‘Are they harassing you on the street?’ People are being very, very kind.anyone who knows about this,” revealed the woman who, she says, Martha was inspired by.

As he explained, decided to break the silence and appear on the public scene after receiving several threats and insults by social networks. Furthermore, he admitted that he expects an apology from the creator and Netflix. “For someone who says he feels sorry for me, I didn’t receive any apology. Neither from him nor from Netflix,” she pointed out against the creator of the series, whom accuses of not having told the facts reliably.