The woman who claims to be the inspiration behind the stalker character Martha in Netflix’s Baby Reindeer has said in court documents that she was made to look like a “monster”.
Scottish 48-year-old Fiona Harvey - who has identified herself as the woman who inspired Martha in the series - says her life has been “literally destroyed” by the drama, which portrayed her as a “head-smashing rapist”.
In the drama, said to be inspired by the real-life experiences of comedian and writer Richard Gadd, his character Donny Dunn is stalked by a woman named Martha Scott after he serves her a free cup of tea in the pub where he works.
At the beginning of the first episode, text appears on the screen which says: “This is a true story.”
Ms Harvey’s legal team say she received death threats over the series and has accused the streaming platform of defaming her in its “unrestrained pursuit of adding more subscribers” and is suing in California for $170million.
Netflix has denied it defamed Ms Harvey and has called for the case to be dismissed.
They allege that her conduct in real life was “far worse” than the character written by Mr Gadd, and that Baby Reindeer was a work of fiction.
Ms Harvey’s legal representative Richard Roth told The Sun that his client had received a “non-stop” stream of messages from people who “wanted to confront the monster in Baby Reindeer”.
"As a direct result, Harvey has experienced chest pains, panic attacks, insomnia, and general fear of going outside," he told the publication.
He went on to denounce the dozens of emails, texts and voicemails Mr Gadd claims that Harvey sent him as “irrelevant, impertinent, and scandalous” and part of “scorched earth litigation”.
