Netflix vowed to “vigorously defend” multi-million dollar lawsuit by Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha

Netflix have vowed to “vigorously defend” a multi-million dollar lawsuit by Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha.

Scot Fiona Harvey, 58, who inspired fellow Scot Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer TV series, has launched a £55million damages case against the streaming giant.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday in California, states that viewers of the show were able to “easily” find out that she was
the real-life inspiration behind jailed stalker Martha – and that Netflix destroyed their client’s life through defamation.

Netflix has told The Record that it has no intention of backing down.

A spokesperson said: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”

Harvey has repeatedly claimed she does not have a criminal record, unlike the character portrayed in Baby Reindeer’s “true story”.

Her lawyer, Richard Roth, of New York firm Roth Law, has produced a document he believes will prove their case.

A DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check was requested from UK authorities. It lists Harvey’s full name as Fiona Briony Harvey and her other names as Fiona Margaret Muir, born in 1965 – and states that she has NO recorded convictions.

Another key aspect of the case is the allegation that internet sleuths easily identified Harvey as the person Martha was based on.

She is portrayed as a twice imprisoned stalker – once for a historical case of stalking and once for stalking Gadd after tearfully pleading guilty in a London court.

The suit claims: “Harvey is physically weak. She has and continues to experience anxiety, nightmares, panic attacks, shame, depression, nervousness, stomach pains, loss of appetite and fear, extreme stress and sickness all directly caused by lies told about her in Baby Reindeer.

“Harvey is fearful of leaving her home or checking the news.”

It went on: “At the same time, Netflix and Gadd, have travelled the country promoting the show and accepting awards while receiving praise and applause for the series’.

“Baby Reindeer is not a true story. It is a lie created by Gadd and distributed by Netflix.”

The suit says Netflix doubled down on its claim that Harvey was a convicted stalker during a Select Committee hearing in Parliament, chaired by John Nicolson MP. Giving evidence on May 8, Netflix executive Benjamin King said the show was “obviously a true story of the horrific abuse the writer and protagonist Richard Gadd suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker”.

However, the SNP MP wrote to King on May 17 asking for “evidence of the serious claim” only to be met with silence.

Richard Roth said: “Netflix destroyed a woman claiming, among many allegations, that she was a convicted felon.

“It never contacted her. It never checked the facts. It never made any effort to understand the truth of its ‘true story’.”

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