A woman claiming to have been the inspiration for the stalker character in Netflix’s Baby Reindeer has filed a defamation lawsuit against the streaming service.
Baby Reindeer proved to be a huge hit for Netflix when it began streaming in April, and spent almost a month as the platform’s number one series here in the UK.
The show began with a message saying “this is a true story”, and was based on comedian Richard Gadd’s true experiences of being stalked.
While Richard and his co-stars have long urged viewers not to speculate about the identities of people who inspired characters in the show, questions were eventually raised as Baby Reindeer grew in popularity about whether enough was done by Netflix to protect their identities.
A lawsuit was filed against Netflix last week by the woman who alleges she inspired the “Martha” character, accusing the company of “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence” and “violations of [her] right to privacy”.
Deadline reported that she is seeking $170 million (around £133,000) in damages in the suit, which was filed in federal court Los Angeles.
Netflix has vowed to “defend this matter vigorously”, insisting they also stood by “Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story”.
It should also be noted that while Richard created and wrote Baby Reindeer, he is not among the defendants, who the claimant accused of “ruining” her life and “destroying” her reputation.
“The lies that Defendants told about Harvey to over 50 million people worldwide include that [the claimant] is a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison, and that [she] sexually assaulted Gadd,” the complaint reads. “Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.”
As Baby Reindeer’s word-of-mouth popularity began to grow, Richard told viewers: “People I love, have worked with, and admire… are unfairly getting caught up in speculation.
“Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That’s not the point of our show.”
He later reiterated: “I don’t agree with the sleuth thing. I’ve put out a statement publicly saying I want the show to be received as a piece of art, and I want the show to people to enjoy as a piece of art.”
“If I wanted the real life people to be found, I would’ve made it a documentary,” Richard added.
More recently, Richard revealed he even kept voicemails and emails sent to him by his real stalker from co-star Jessica Gunning, so they wouldn’t influence her performance as Martha.