Real-Life Baby Reindeer Subject Considering Legal Action Against Netflix

The Netflix series Baby Reindeer is facing a potential lawsuit from the real-life woman that inspired the character "Martha."

By Kofi Outlaw

Netflix's new series Baby Reindeer is a breakout hit – but it also may come with the hit of a major lawsuit. 

The real-life person who inspired the  stalker character "Martha" in Netflix's Baby Reindeer has officially made her name public, and she is Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey (58). Harvey alleges that Baby Reindeer exaggerates the story between herself and comedian Richard Gadd, who created the show and stars as a fictionalized version of himself named Donny Dunn. In the show, "Martha" was in jail for over four years before being released and becoming obsessed with Donny, and (SPOILERS) stalking him lands her back in jail for nearly a year. Fiona Harvey says that's not at all true about her real life experience, which never involved prison: 

"I've not been to prison," Harvey told the Daily Record UK. "I don't know where the four -and-a-half years and nine months comes in. None of this happened. It's a load of rubbish." 

In general, Harvey is alleging that she's seen disruption to her life as a result of Baby Reindeer – especially since viewers were able to dig through the Internet and quickly discern that it was her the show was referencing"

"Gadd and Netflix have portrayed this as a true story and now some little man in North Carolina giving me death threats believes it's a true story," Harvey said. "But I think you'd need to be really stupid to believe it is true."

Harvey has also made a statement about what she expects of Gadd and Netflix – along with the plan to represent herself as a lawyer in the case: 

"Gadd needs to prove I went to jail which just didn't happen. I've never been sent to jail. That is blatantly obvious. Police at your door would be the first thing, then you'd be charged, then you would have a trial. Then you'd be fined or something or go to prison," Harvey said.

"This is all made up and hyperbole," she added. "There are no restraining orders, injunctions or interdicts anywhere. There's just no way. I've not had the police at my door about any of these things. It's a load of rubbish. I don't have any money but I'm a perfectly capable lawyer so I will represent myself."

Rory Lynch, a lawyer specializing in defamation and privacy suits, believes Harvey has a reasonable shot at making a case: 

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"The only thing I can presume is that when Clerkenwell, films, the BBC and Netflix looked at it with their legal team they thought that they could rely on the fact that it is a drama. It's not supposed to be a factual documentary," Lynch said. "So although Netflix said it's a true story, essentially it's a dramatisation of a true story. But I do think that Richard Gadd could have been a bit more careful in changing a lot of the scenes to be more fictitious, but also covering up the identity of the people it was based on."

Baby Reindeer is streaming on Netflix. 

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