Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd has detailed the alleged abuse and harassment he suffered at the hands of the so-called real-life Martha Scott in legal documents backing Netflix‘s bid to have her $170million defamation lawsuit thrown out.
Gadd in a 21-page declaration filed in California court on Monday claimed he was ‘harassed and stalked’ by Fiona Harvey, who says the character Martha on the widely viewed limited series is clearly based on her, for ‘several years’.
He alleged Harvey sent him ‘thousands’ of messages that ‘often included sexually explicit, violent, and derogatory content, hateful speech, and threats’, the court filing states. He also claimed to have made a complaint to UK police about her alleged behavior.
Gadd’s declaration was filed in support of Netflix’s motion to dismiss Harvey’s defamation suit, which it says is a ‘baseless attack’ on the company’s freedom of speech. The company further argues that the series does not identify Harvey as an alleged abuser and is a ‘substantially true’ depiction of her alleged actions.
Harvey, a Scot living in England, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles last month alleging she was defamed over her portrayal as a stalker in the hit mini-series. She also alleged that the streaming giant was negligent, intentionally subjected her to emotional distress and violated her right to publicity.
Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd (pictured last month) has backed Netflix’s bid to get a $170million defamation lawsuit filed by the alleged real-life Martha Scott thrown out. In a declaration filed in California court on Monday, Gadd alleged that Fiona Harvey, who claims to be the inspiration behind the Martha character, ‘harassed and stalked me over several years’
Fiona Harvey (pictured in May) filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles last month alleging she was defamed over her portrayal as a stalker in the hit mini-series Baby Reindeer. She also alleged that Netflix was negligent, intentionally subjected her to emotional distress and violated her right to publicity
Gadd in his declaration submitted in federal court on Monday claimed that Harvey ‘harassed and stalked me over several years’ and, according to the filing, which was obtained from the court by DailyMail.com
‘Overall, it was an incredibly stressful and worrying time, with a sustained period of relentless behavior taking place over several years,’ he wrote in the court documents.
‘It is impossible to be exhaustive in setting out all of Harvey’s conduct, as there were so many instances of unwelcome personal interaction and attempts to engage, as well as deeply troubling communication.’
Gadd alleged that Harvey ‘sent me thousands of emails, hundreds of voicemails, and a number of handwritten letters’ which he claims ‘often included sexually explicit, violent, and derogatory content, hateful speech, and threats’, the filing states.
He accused her of monitoring his social media accounts, specifically his profile on Twitter, now called X, and sending him emails to comment on the photos he posted, the declaration revealed.
Citing a message from January 2015, Gadd wrote in the document: ‘Harvey sent me an email with the subject line “yummy mummy,” which stated “I see your mum is on twitter . . . I looked up yours to see what was going on in your head and you retweeted her”.’
The actor, citing another alleged instance of social media monitoring, added that ‘on September 17, 2016, Harvey emailed me “I love the photo of you sleeping on twitter”.’
He further claimed that she admitted to being a ‘racist’ in an email and would ‘frequently’ use ‘hateful speech and derogatory racist and homophobic language’ in her correspondences, the court documents revealed.
Gadd, in an attempt to offer ‘a microcosm of the sheer scale of her targeted harassment’, also accused Harvey of putting herself in the spotlight by self identifying as the woman who inspired Martha in the series.
‘I never intended the Series to identify any real person as Martha Scott, including Harvey,’ he wrote the documents. ‘Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey. Like all characters in the Series, Martha is a fictional character with fictional personality traits that are very different than Harvey’s.’
He continued: ‘I was surprised that Harvey appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored. Though I have only watched certain segments, I understand she claimed that she was the inspiration for the Martha character, and that she never sent me thousands of emails nor left me any voicemails.
‘She harassed and stalked me over several years, and since her interview, other individuals have contacted me through my agents and publicists and said they were also harassed by Harvey, but all were too scared of her to come forward.’
Gadd argued in the filing that if ‘called as a witness, could and would testify’ to the allegations detailed in his declaration.
He also claimed that in 2016 he ‘obtained a First Instance Harassment Warning against Harvey’ from police in the UK, the court documents revealed.
Harassment warnings are notices given to an alleged abuser that a complaint has been made against them and inform them that police action could be taken if there are similar reports in the future.
Netflix filed its motion to dismiss Harvey’s case on Monday in California court, alleging her claims have failed on several grounds. Richard Gadd, left, and Jessica Gunning, right, are pictured in a scene from Baby Reindeer
Netflix filed its motion to dismiss the case in California court on Monday, slamming Harvey and alleging her claims, which it says ‘plainly arise from protected activity’, failed on several grounds.
The company, in the court filing which was obtained by DailyMail.com, argued the creation of Baby Reindeer falls under ‘core free speech activities protected by the First Amendment’.
Netflix said the lawsuit was a ‘baseless attack on Netflix’s exercise of free speech’ and barred by California’s anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (‘anti-SLAPP’) statute, which is designed to stop frivolous lawsuits.
The company argued that the topics of ‘sexual abuse, harassment and stalking’ that are highlighted in the series are ‘indisputably topics of widespread, public interest’.
‘The subject matter of the Series also allegedly concerns Gadd, who is indisputably in the public eye,’ the court filing reads. ‘Gadd has been a recognized actor and writer for years. There is a “public interest which attaches to people [like Gadd] who, by their accomplishments, mode of living, professional standing or calling,” attract the public’s “attention to their activities”.’
The streaming service further argued that Harvey’s conduct in real life was ‘far worse than Martha’s cinematic actions’ meaning that any resemblance in Baby Reindeer was ‘substantially true’.
The company said: ‘The thousands of actual emails, handwritten letters, social media posts, and voicemails sent by Harvey are awash with violent hate speech and sexually explicit, deeply disturbing vitriol that is nowhere depicted in the Series’.
Even taking this into account, the claims should be dismissed because it was not based on real life, Netflix argued.
The company wrote: ‘Martha is not Harvey. Harvey is not a character name, and the Series never uses Harvey’s name in any way. Netflix and Gadd never identified Harvey as someone who stalked him (and others) in real life.
‘Rather, it was Harvey who thrust herself into the spotlight and identified herself as the supposed inspiration for Martha’.
Netflix said that ‘any reasonable viewer’ would conclude that the series is ‘not a factual documentary representing literally true details and imagery’.
Netflix used Harvey’s own words against her in an interview with Morgan when she noted: ‘Martha cannot be me . . . [she] is a fictional character’.
Netflix says: ‘Harvey is correct: no reasonable viewer could understand the Series to make any statements of fact, let alone a statement specifically about Harvey.’
Netflix argued Harvey’s claims should be dismissed because the series was not based on real life. Gadd (pictured in a promo for Baby Reindeer) echoed Netflix’s claim, stating in his court filing that the series is ‘not a documentary representing literally true details and imagery’
Baby Reindeer sees Gadd portray Donny Dunn, who in his day job at a pub gives Martha, a quick-to-laugh customer, a free cup of tea. Martha eventually becomes a stalker who sends Donny tens of thousands of emails, tweets at him hundreds of times, smashes a bottle over his head and gouges his eyes, sexually assaults him and eventually is arrested and sent to prison. Pictured are Gadd (left) and actress Jessica Gunning (right) in a scene from the show
Gadd, in his declaration, echoed Netflix’s claim, stating Baby Reindeer is ‘not a documentary representing literally true details and imagery’.
‘It is a fictionalized retelling of my emotional journey through several extremely traumatic real experiences,’ Gadd wrote. ‘It is an expression of my views on stalking, harassment, and sexual abuse told through the lens of my own experiences, emotions, and self-reflections.
‘I did not write the Series as a representation of actual facts about any real person, including Fiona Harvey. Harvey is never mentioned in the Series.’
He added: ‘The Series is a dramatic work. It is not a documentary or an attempt at realism. While the Series is based on my life and real-life events and is, at its core, emotionally true, it is not a beat-by-beat recounting of the events and emotions I experienced as they transpired.
‘It is fictionalized, and is not intended to portray actual facts.’
Baby Reindeer, which is based on a one-man stage show by Gadd, sees the actor portray a doppelganger named Donny Dunn, who in his day job at a pub gives Martha, a quick-to-laugh customer, a free cup of tea.
Martha eventually becomes a stalker who sends Donny tens of thousands of emails, tweets at him hundreds of times, smashes a bottle over his head and gouges his eyes, sexually assaults him and eventually is arrested and sent to prison.
But in her lawsuit filed last month, Harvey alleges the depicted harassment never actually occurred.
‘The lies that Defendants told about Harvey to over 50 million people worldwide include that Harvey is a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison, and that Harvey sexually assaulted Gadd,’ Harvey’s complaint states.
‘Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.’
Harvey, unlike the character on the show, also never previously stalked a police officer, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit further alleges Netflix did nothing to determine whether the stalking, assault, and convictions were accurate, nor did it do anything to understand the actual relationship between Harvey and Gadd.
‘Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life,’ the suit says.
Harvey’s lawsuit also alleges that she bears an ‘uncanny resemblance’ to Martha – played by actress Jessica Gunning (pictured in a scene from the series) – saying her ‘accent, manner of speaking and cadence’ are ‘indistinguishable’
Baby Reindeer premiered on Netflix in April, and Harvey publicly came forward and gave an interview to Morgan about a month later.
But her lawsuit says viewers and British media outlets had identified her well before that, and they have tormented her constantly since.
This was possible, the lawsuit alleges, because on the show Martha creates social media posts identical to searchable posts by Harvey, including one in which she says, ‘my curtains need hung badly,’ which is used as a sexual euphemism on the show.
The lawsuit also alleges that Harvey bears an ‘uncanny resemblance’ to Martha – played by actress Jessica Gunning – saying her ‘accent, manner of speaking and cadence’ are ‘indistinguishable’.
The lawsuit says that the series’ claim at the beginning of its first episode that it’s a true story is ‘the biggest lie in television history’ and that its defamation of Harvey is ‘at a magnitude and scale without precedent’.
Harvey is seeking all profits from ‘Baby Reindeer’ and asks that punitive and other damages be awarded that would total at least $170million.
