Fiona Harvey has secured a significant legal win against Netflix after a US appeals court dismissed the streaming giant's appeal in the Baby Reindeer defamation case, moving the lawsuit closer to a trial.
Harvey, a former lawyer from Scotland, claims the award-winning series written by Richard Gadd falsely portrays her as stalker Martha and is seeking damages totalling $170 million (£127 million) from Netflix.
Appeal dismissed by US court
The case was widely expected to go to trial in May 2025, but an appeal by Netflix halted proceedings at the Central District of California Court. The streaming service has been fighting to have the defamation case dismissed since 2024.
Now, the US Court of Appeals has dismissed its appeal, meaning a trial date between Harvey and Netflix has moved a step closer. In its order, the appeals court said Netflix must either "file a motion to voluntarily dismiss this appeal or file a statement explaining why it should not be dismissed."
Lawyer says Harvey is 'elated'
Harvey's lawyer, Richard Roth, told Deadline that Harvey was feeling "elated" after the court order. He said: "First, it made a motion before the federal district court, which it lost. Then it appealed that decision, which was dismissed. Notwithstanding its efforts, there will be a trial in this action where its wrongdoing will be front and centre before a jury."
When asked by the Mail how his client was feeling, Roth replied: "Elated".
Background to the case
US District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled in September 2024 that Harvey's case should go ahead because Baby Reindeer was wrongly billed as a "true story" after Netflix "made no effort" to fact-check creator Richard Gadd's experiences and failed to "hide" Harvey's identity.
Netflix has argued that Harvey's claim fails because she "does not allege a provably false statement of fact was made about her." It has also said that her reputation has already been tarnished by "past news stories detailing her previous harassment and stalking of public figures."
Harvey claimed that the series, which made overnight successes out of Gadd and co-star Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha, portrayed her as "a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison." Harvey has never been convicted of stalking Gadd, and she argued the series was "the biggest lie in television history."
Airing in April 2024, Baby Reindeer opened with the words 'This is a true story' on screen. At the end of the series, the character Martha pleaded guilty to stalking comedian Donny and was handed a four-and-a-half year prison sentence.
Harvey's lawyers say she has never been convicted of any crime. She claims she has been defamed "at a magnitude and scale without precedent" and her life destroyed as a result.
The Mirror has contacted Netflix for comment on this story.
