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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
The hosts of this year’s Emmy Awards, Dan and Eugene Levy, mocked the stalker at the centre of Baby Reindeer in their opening monologue on Sunday night (15 September).
The father-son duo and Schitt’s Creek co-stars delivered a lively introduction to the ceremony, poking fun at shows from The Bear to Hacks.
But Baby Reindeer, Netflix’s mega-hit stalker drama with 11 nominations, got the biggest ribbing.
The series follows a struggling comic called Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd), as he is relentlessly harassed and stalked by a woman named Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) for more than four years.
It was embroiled in controversy when internet sleuths unearthed the “real Martha” as a woman called Fiona Harvey.
Mocking the nature of Martha’s texts in the show, the Levys said that the messages were like those you might receive from a parent who is new to technology.
“Let’s host Emmys Colin Farrell will be there you still have crush?” said Dan.
“Walter O’Keefe joke too mean? sent from my iphon,” was another joke example of text, while a third was: “Best ramen near me.”
“There’s 59,000 more where those came from,” Dan joked.
The series, which claims to be a “true story” in the opening credits, is based on the real-life experiences of Gadd, the show’s creator and lead actor.
Harvey has brought a $170m (£132m) lawsuit against the show, saying the claim that it’s a “true story” is “the biggest lie in television history”.
According to documents seen by The Independent, Harvey has accused Netflix of defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of her right to privacy among other allegations.
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While Gadd isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit, he filed a response in federal court defending a motion to dismiss Harvey’s claim in a declaration dated 28 July.
“I never intended the series to identify any real person as Martha Scott, including Harvey,” he wrote in the 21-page document. “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.”
A Netflix spokesperson said at the time of the lawsuit’s filing: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
Harvey’s defamation lawsuit has been handed a trial date for 2025.
Follow live updates on the 76th Emmy Awards here.
