Celebrity
Woman Who Says She’s The Real Martha From ‘Baby Reindeer’ Sues Netflix For Defamation
A woman who claims to be the inspiration for the relentless stalker in Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” filed a defamation lawsuit against the streaming giant on Thursday, seeking at least $170 million.
Fiona Harvey, a Scottish attorney living in England who claims the character Martha in the popular limited series is based on her, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles. She also claims that Netflix was negligent, intentionally caused her emotional distress, and violated her right to publicity.
Martha | IMG Image
Woman Who Says She’s The Real Martha From ‘Baby Reindeer’ Sues Netflix For Defamation
Richard Gadd’s one-man stage play serves as the basis for this British black comedy. Gadd plays a lookalike named Donny Dunn, who works at a tavern and provides Martha, a quick-to-laugh customer, a free cup of tea. She gradually becomes a stalker, sending him tens of thousands of emails, tweeting at him hundreds of times, smashing a bottle over his head and gouging his eyes, sexually assaulting him, and ultimately being arrested and imprisoned.
None of this occurred, according to the lawsuit.
“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 lawsuit alleges. “Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.”
According to the lawsuit, Harvey has never previously stalked a police officer, as Gadd’s character discovers on the show.
According to the lawsuit, the streamer did nothing to determine the accuracy of the stalking, assault, and convictions, nor did it investigate Harvey and Gadd’s true connection.
Martha | Masheable Image
Woman Who Says She’s The Real Martha From ‘Baby Reindeer’ Sues Netflix For Defamation
“Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life,” the suit says.
Gadd is not named as a defendant, but emails seeking comment from his counsel were not promptly replied.
The show premiered on Netflix in April, then Harvey officially came forward and spoke with journalist Piers Morgan about a month later. However, according to the lawsuit, viewers and British media sites identified her long before then, and they have continued to torture her ever since.
According to the lawsuit, this was made feasible because Martha generates social media postings on the program that are identical to searchable posts by Harvey, including one in which she states, “my curtains need hung badly,” which is used as a sexual euphemism on the show.
The lawsuit also claims that Harvey has an “uncanny resemblance” to Martha, stating that her “accent, manner of speaking, and cadence” are “indistinguishable.”
Woman Who Says She’s The Real Martha From ‘Baby Reindeer’ Sues Netflix For Defamation
According to the lawsuit, the series’ claim at the start of its first episode that it is a true narrative is “the biggest lie in television history,” and its defamation of Harvey is “at a magnitude and scale without precedent.”
Harvey seeks all earnings from “Baby Reindeer” and punitive and other damages for at least $170 million.
SOURCE – (AP)
