Richard Gadd, the creator and star of Netflix's hit series Baby Reindeer, has filed a declaration in a California court detailing the alleged stalking and harassment he experienced from Fiona Harvey, the woman who has identified herself as the inspiration for the show's stalker character, Martha Scott. The filing, submitted on Monday, describes years of “exhausting and extremely upsetting” behaviour that Gadd claims he endured between 2014 and 2017.
In a 21-page document, Gadd stated that Baby Reindeer is a “fictionalised retelling” of his emotional journey through traumatic real experiences, and not a beat-by-beat recounting of actual events. He emphasised that the series is a dramatic work and does not portray actual facts about any real person, including Harvey. “Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey,” he wrote.
Gadd recounted meeting Harvey in 2014 while working at the Hawley Arms pub in London, initially finding her “harmless”. However, he alleged that she later engaged in inappropriate touching and ignored his requests to stop. Over two years, he claims to have received thousands of emails, hundreds of voicemails, and handwritten letters that were often sexually explicit, violent, and threatening. He reported her to the police in February 2016, leading to a First Instance Harassment Warning being issued in May 2016.
Harvey filed a $170 million lawsuit against Netflix in June, accusing the streaming giant of defamation and other claims. She denies stalking Gadd or sending him thousands of messages, telling Piers Morgan that she only exchanged a few emails of “jokey banter”. Her lawsuit alleges that Netflix did nothing to verify the “true story” behind Baby Reindeer and that the series has ruined her life.
Gadd’s filing also noted that he received a handwritten letter from Harvey containing a pair of underwear in August 2017, after the harassment warning had been issued. He described the cumulative effect of her actions as “enormous” and “incredibly stressful”, and expressed willingness to testify if called upon.
