Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd has spoken out regarding the lawsuit filed against Netflix by Fiona Harvey.
Gadd, who alongside creating Baby Reindeer also starred in it as a fictionalised version of himself.
The series chronicled his experience with a stalker who allegedly pursued him for years.
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In Baby Reindeer, which includes a 'true story' disclaimer, Donny (Gadd) offers Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) a free cup of tea at his place of work, which leads to her stalking him.
The TV series was also based on Gadd's stage production of the same name.
Following the huge success of the show, fans became determined to figure out who the real-life stalker was, despite Gadd's pleas to the contrary.
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Despite not being identified in the series, a woman named Fiona Harvey came forward to claim that she was the inspiration behind the character of Martha, and denied stalking or assaulting Gadd in an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
On 6 June, it was reported that Harvey had filed a lawsuit against Netflix for $170 million (£133 million).
The lawsuit alleged that Netflix had told 'brutal lies' about Harvey, and accused the platform of alleged defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence and violations of her right of publicity, including that she is a 'twice convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison'.
The lawsuit said that Harvey has 'never been convicted of any crime and has never been to prison'.
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It further claimed: “As a result of defendants’ lies, malfeasance and utterly reckless misconduct, Harvey’s life had been ruined."
Gadd was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, however, he has since spoken out and detailed the 'exhausting and extremely upsetting' stalking he allegedly faced, as reported by The Guardian.
In the 21-page document filed yesterday (29 July), Gadd claimed to have experiences of 'stalking, harassment, abuse and threats' between 2014 and 2017.
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He said: "The Series is a dramatic work. 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 fictionalised, and is not intended to portray actual facts.”
He added: "Although these stage productions were emotionally true and based on real events in my life, they dramatised people, places, things, and events to tell a story, I did not write the Series as a representation of actual facts about any real person, including Fiona Harvey … Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey.”
For two years, the filing claimed, Gadd had received 'thousands of emails, hundreds of voicemails, and a number of handwritten letters', which were 'sexually explicit, violent' with 'derogatory content, hateful speech, and threats'.
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Gadd further claims that he'd reported Harvey to the police in February 2016, and that she was given a First Instance Harassment Warning in May that same year, which allegedly ended their communication.
"The cumulative effect of all of Harvey’s actions was enormous," he said. "It was exhausting and extremely upsetting to deal with her constant personal interactions in the Hawley Arms, her following me around London including near where I lived and her relentless and deeply unpleasant communications.”
Gadd also wrote that he has 'personal knowledge of the facts set forth below and, if called as a witness, could and would testify competently thereto', adding that he was submitting his declaration in 'support of defendants Netflix, Inc., and Netflix Worldwide Entertainment, LLC’s special motion to strike', as per The Independent.
In response to Harvey's lawsuit, a Netflix spokesperson previously said: "We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
Topics: Baby Reindeer, Netflix, TV And Film
Kya Buller