Baby Reindeer it’s not just a series, but a real phenomenon that, as was to be expected, has unleashed a storm of both positive and negative criticism. To all intents and purposes it has become one of the most watched series ever on Netflix and for the director, author and protagonist, the Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, it was an opportunity to make himself known and to make known a story with dark traits. His story.
In Baby Reindeer there is a man victim of abuse and stalking by a woman, the indecipherable relationship between victim and perpetrator, mental problems. A mix that catapulted the protagonist onto the crest of the media wave: Martha in the series, Fiona Harvey in real life. Gadd never mentioned the woman’s name but, through a frantic hunt on social media, the web people tracked down Harvey. And now she has decided to file a millionaire lawsuit against Netflix.
Fiona Harvey files a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Netflix
As anticipated, Richard Gadd decided to tell his story in Baby Reindeer (“little reindeer”, for those who haven’t seen the series or don’t understand English), a Netflix product in which the border between truth and fiction It’s really very subtle. Many, witnessing the vicissitudes of the protagonist, were shocked: the themes addressed are heavy as a boulder, very current but so raw as to sometimes border on the absurd.
Gadd’s honesty operation found the approval of many users of the streaming platform, also attracting some (inevitable) criticism. Gadd is careful not to directly mention names and surnames to avoid involving the real characters involved in his story, but perhaps that wasn’t enough. A real crisis has broken out on the web “manhunt”, or rather womanhunt. And it was the alleged “real” Martha who paid the price, his stalker in the series (played by Jessica Gunning) who, for her part, did not hold back from giving an interview on British TV to forcefully reiterate that she was not involved. A contradiction, in the eyes of many. Too many contradictionsalso in the same statements given to Pier Morgan.
The controversial behavior of Fiona Harvey it has caused a lot of discussion, but she has no intention of giving up one step. Indeed, you decided to take matters further by filing a million-dollar lawsuit against Netflix for reasons that the portal made known PageSix, came into possession of the complaint documents.
The “real” Martha from Baby Reindeer wants 170 million in compensation
Fiona Harvey she always denied being the “real” Martha Of Baby Reindeer and continues to do so. By now her life has been literally turned upside down and her request is clear: she wants compensation of at least 170 million dollars from Netflix for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and violation of her right of publicitywhich refers to an individual’s right to control the commercial use of their identity.
Second PageSix, the woman filed documents in the US District Court in California last Thursday: “The lies that defendants have told about Harvey to more than 50 million people around the world include that Harvey is a twice-convicted stalker five years in prison and that Harvey sexually assaulted Gadd – the complaint reads -. The defendants they told these lies and they never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and the best stories made money.”
Netflix is therefore accused of having committed a crime “gross negligence” disseminating clues that led web users to identify the alleged stalker of the series as Fiona Harvey, with “actual subjective awareness of the risk involved, but nevertheless proceeding with conscious indifference towards the rights, safety and/or well-being of [lei]”. Harvey declares herself “tormented”, in the throes of a “severe and extreme emotional distress”: “She has and continues to experience anxiety, nightmares, panic attacks, shame, depression, nervousness, stomach pains, loss of appetite and fear, extreme stress and illness, all directly caused by the lies told about her in Baby Reindeer“, we read again in the complaint.
“We intend to vigorously defend this matter and support Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story,” a Netflix representative responded when asked directly by PageSix.
