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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
Richard Gadd gave an emotional speech as he accepted his award for writingBaby Reindeer at the 76th Emmy Awards on Sunday night (15 September).
Gadd beat writers including Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker and True Detective’s Issa Lopez to win the award for the hit Netflix show he made about his experience of being stalked.
Accepting the prize, he said: “This is the stuff of dreams… 10 years ago, I was down and out. I never ever thought I’d get my life together. I never ever thought I’d be able to rectify myself for what had happened to me and get myself back on my feet again.
“And then here I am just over a decade later picking up one of the biggest writing awards on television.
“I don’t mean that to sound arrogant. I mean it as encouragement for anyone who’s going through a difficult time right now to persevere.”
He continued: “I don’t know much about this life. I don’t know why we’re here. None of that, but I do know that nothing lasts forever and no matter how bad it gets, it always gets better.
“So if you’re struggling, keep going, keep going and I promise you things will be OK.”
Gadd’s win came after Jessica Gunning, who played stalker Martha in the series, took home the prize for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie.
Gadd also won the award for Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie. He was up against Matt Bomer (Fellow Travelers), Jon Hamm (Fargo), Tom Hollander (Feud: Capote vs The Swans) and Andrew Scott (Ripley).
In his acceptance speech for the acting award, Gadd said he is a huge fan of category competitor Hamm, adding that he had spent the previous evening repeatedly telling the actor how much he loved him. He also thanked his parents, who told him to follow his heart, saying they were a “glaring ommission” from his first speech.
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Baby Reindeer was embroiled in controversy when internet sleuths unearthed the “real Martha” as a woman called Fiona Harvey.
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.
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.
