The lawyer for ‘real Martha’ Fiona Harvey, has demanded the release of thousands of emails and messages ahead of a lawsuit seeking a potential $50m (£39m) for a series of allegations against Netflix.
Richard Roth, representing the 58-year-old, hit out at the streaming giant for billing Baby Reindeer as a “true story” and demanded to see the emails, messages, and proof of conviction, that the show purports to be based on.
The seven-part series, written by and starring comedian Richard Gadd, follows Donny Dunn as he is relentlessly harassed and stalked by a woman named Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning), who he meets while working in a pub in Camden.
Internet sleuths soon tracked down the “real Martha”, prompting Fiona Harvey to defend herself in an interview with Piers Morgan, in which she confirmed she would be suing Gadd and Netflix.
“They better have those hours of voicemails, they better have 41,000 messages,” Roth, Harvey’s legal representative, said in in an interview with Good Morning Britain on Wednesday (19 June).
“I’m telling you we don’t have it, I don’t believe they have them. Then that’s where Netflix fails. You say, in the show there’s 41,000 emails, let me see them. You say there’s this many tweets, let me see them. You say there’s this many hours of messages, let me see it,” he continued.
“They’re going to have to come up with it, because we have not seen anywhere near that amount and Fiona stands by her statement.”
Although the US attorney said that they disputed “everything” claimed in the show, he added, “Even if some of it is true, this is a ‘true story’, that does not give them the licence to make some false [statements] and some truths.”
The Independent has contacted Netflix for comment.
Reflecting on the show’s portrayal of Martha Scott as a convicted stalker, Roth said. “Saying she is a convicted felon and she wasn’t, then that is defamation. You can’t say someone is convicted when they weren’t.”
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According to documents seen by The Independent, Harvey has accused Netflix of defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of right of publicity among other allegations.
Netflix remained silent on the subject – but after Harvey filed her lawsuit against the service, a spokesperson said: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
