Woman Portrayed As Stalker In ‘Baby Reindeer’ Says She Can’t Go To Grocery Store After Filing $170 Million Defamation Suit Against Netflix

A Scottish woman, Fiona Harvey, accused Netflix of defamation and claimed that the streaming giant’s Baby Reindeer series caused her immense harm. Now, her lawyer claims she can’t even go to the grocery store due to the notoriety. 

The 49-year-old alleges she is the inspiration behind the Netflix stalking drama and has sued the company for at least $170 million.

Based on the real-life experiences of comedian and writer Richard Gadd, the show depicts Martha Scott, played by Jessica Gunning, as a stalker who targets Gadd’s character after he offers her a free cup of tea in a pub where he works. However, Harvey’s legal team claims that the series has falsely portrayed her as a “twice convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison,” which they argue is defamatory.

Harvey’s attorney, Richard Roth, has argued that his client is not a public figure and felt compelled to reveal herself as the real-life inspiration for the show’s character, Martha Scott, due to the persistent harassment she has faced. Roth stated that Harvey has been “harassed, stalked, [and] receiving death threats,” which has left her too afraid even to go out and buy groceries, he recently said in an interview with NewsNation.

Roth has criticized Netflix’s failure to properly disclose the fictionalized nature of the story. The series begins with the claim, “This is a true story,” without any clear indication that it is based on or inspired by real events. The attorney further argued that the show’s producers did not make sufficient efforts to disguise the identity of the real-life inspiration and made it “very easy to find out who it is.”

On the other hand, Netflix has stated that it intends to “defend this matter vigorously” and stand by Gadd’s “right to tell his story.”