‘Baby Reindeer’ Creator Richard Gadd Insists ‘Martha Scott Is Not Fiona Harvey’
Nearly two months following the defamation lawsuit filed against Netflix, Richard Gadd, the writer, director, and star of the Netflix surprise-hit series Baby Reindeer, is claiming the series labeled “a true story” is in fact “fictionalized.”
The comments come from Gadd’s own 21-page statement of support for Netflix, as the streamer undergoes a defamation lawsuit headed by the Fiona Harvey, the Scottish lawyer who claims to be the inspiration for the series’ stalker character Martha Scott. In the lawsuit, she accuses the streamer of defamation, negligence, and violating her rights to privacy, as the stalker character commits sexual assault and is depicted as having spent time in prison. An online manhunt ensued when fans of the series took it upon themselves to find the characters in real life. Shortly following her identification by fans, Harvey was interviewed by Piers Morgan, confirming herself as the inspiration behind the character. She officially filed the lawsuit on June 6.
Gadd, who has maintained the stance that fans of the show should not be looking for these characters, now formally claims that “Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey” in his written statement, urging the lawsuit to be thrown out.
He argues that while the series is based on real-life events, the work itself is “emotionally true.”
“I intentionally did not refer to Harvey by name in any way,” he states in the document. “I never intended the series to identify any real person as Martha Scott, including Harvey. Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey…Martha is a fictional character with fictional personality traits that are very different than Harvey’s.”
The character Martha, depicted as a Scottish lawyer, meets Gadd’s character at the pub he works at and subsequently begins emailing and following him without his consent, eventually amounting to sexual assault. In his formal statement, Gadd also details his experience first meeting Harvey.
“In 2014, I met Harvey at the pub where I worked at the time,” he writes. “Following that first meeting, Harvey subsequently stalked and harrassed me throughout 2014–2017.”
He continues to recount the ways in which he felt uncomfortable, violated, and harassed, closing the section with the clarification that Harvey “identified herself to the press as Martha.”
“This series is a dramatic work,” Gadd writes. “It is not a documentary or an attempt at realism. While the series is based on my life…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 fictionalized, and is not intended to portray actual facts.”
In a statement presented at a UK Parliament hearing in May, Netflix policy chief Benjamin King stated the streamer was satisfied with their attention to privacy and that the streamer took “every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story.”
Following the lawsuit filing in June, Netflix released a statement to TVLine: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
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