Netflix’s Baby Reindeer has captivated worldwide audiences with even Richard Gadd’s alleged stalker a.k.a the real Martha now speaking out.
The woman, who decided to remain anonymous for the interview, told the Daily Mail that she is now considering taking legal action for defamation following the series launch and the interest viewers have taken in her.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, the story of Baby Reindeer centres on struggling comedian Donny Dunn’s (Gadd) strange and layered relationship with a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning), whose initially friendly demeanour unravels as she begins to stalk Donny relentlessly. Over multiple years, she sent him over 41,000 emails, 744 tweets, 100 pages of letters and 350 hours of voicemails.
Now, in the brand-new interview, the alleged perpetrator feels that Gadd is “using Baby Reindeer” to “stalk” HER.
“I’m the victim,” he told the outlet. “He’s written a bloody show about me.”
According to the interviewee, Gadd is now “bullying an older woman on television for fame and fortune” and despite his attempts to shield her true identity, she has now received “death threats and abuse” from his “supporters.”
Fiona Harvey’s Facebook post
On April 26, a woman named Fiona Harvey penned a post on Facebook (which was public at the time of publication) accusing Gadd of creating the show about her; however, whether the Daily Mail source and Fiona Harvey are linked with one another remains unclear.
“Richard gadd who is not known to Me wrote a show four or five years ago for the festival fringe called baby reindeer it would appear to be popular on Netflix now among twenty something’s with no brain [sic],” she wrote.
“I do not follow the rantings of richard gadd or failed comedians like him. I have no idea what he’s said apart from A few quotes thrown at me this week by other people He seems to have some fat ugly woman called martha being played by an actres s pretending to be me Again. I do not know this actress. [sic]”
Harvey then claimed that she used to live in Camden (where the series is set) and that she “did know” Gadd was a “jobbing barman” in the Hawley Arms. She also said the bar was a “haven of drink” and that there were “drugs” and “rape allegations against some barmen”.
“I’ve had death threats from richard gadd supporters on here this week,” she penned. “I’ve had vile stalking and abusive threats.
“I know nothing about richard gadd apart from His sorry little life story I listened to on a sophie hagan podcast he did with her when baby reindeer came out [sic].
“I am not martha have no criminal Convictions.”
She also said he’d “defame anyone”, called him a “gay man” and claimed that “he did ask me out and stalked me years ago” and that she is “not interested in any aspect of richard gadds life”.
You can read the full passage below.
Richard Gadd speaks out on social media
After interest in the series — and its real-life counterparts — spread like wildfire, Gadd himself took to his Instagram Stories to ask fans to stop speculating.
“People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation,” he wrote. “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show.”
Meanwhile, Foley also took to X (formerly Twitter) to express that the police had been informed and were “investigating all defamatory abusive and threatening posts” against him.
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