When Richard Gadd decided to create a series about the traumatic stalking experience he experienced firsthand, he probably didn’t expect that his work would conquer audiences and critics around the world, finishing at the top of the “Most Viewed” list on Netflix. Baby Reindeer it is a unique product, heartbreaking and irresistible at the same time, certainly also thanks to the authenticity that exudes from every frames: everything, or almost everything, of what is told is in fact the transposition of something that actually happened. Just as real is the stalker of the Scottish comedian, who it took web detectives very little to identify: the woman who inspired the character of Martha Scott finally decided to give an interview to Daily Mail. In which he claimed that she was “the real victim”.
«I haven’t seen him for 12 years»
“He’s bullying an older woman for fame and wealth. She is using Baby Reindeer to stalk me now. I’m the real victim. She wrote a whole damn show about me,” she told the British tabloid. And again: «Someone online said: ‘If I find you I’ll kill you’. A boy in North Carolina said that he and other people would persecute me as I had persecuted Gadd. I slept two hours last night. I thought, what if his supporters really did things like that.” She claims she hasn’t watched the series, «but I’ve seen various things. I have been in the company of Richard Gadd on a few occasions, but I have not stalked him as you claim. His story is a serious intrusion into my privacy. I haven’t seen him for 12 years.”
The story
In the four and a half years in which they had contact, however, the woman allegedly sent the comedian more than 41 thousand emails, tagged him in 744 tweets, sent him letters totaling 106 pages and left voicemails on his answering machine which, added together, last over 305 hours. Precisely by following these crumbs scattered online, fans of the series managed to trace the identity of the woman who inspired the character, even if the creator of the series never confirmed the allegations. Indeed, in a post on Instagram she asked her followers: «Please don’t speculate about who the characters might be in real life. That’s not the purpose of our show.” Her request largely ignored. The alleged stalker in question has now announced that she will consider taking legal action against the comedian.
