How Did Baby Reindeer Become a Phenomenon at the 2024 Emmys?

Baby Reindeer has scored four wins at the 2024 Emmys, including Outstanding Limited Series, and Netflix is ​​in for a big surprise. Before its April debut, the platform hadn’t even planned a campaign to push Baby Reindeer at the American TV awards: they were betting everything on the most conventional Ripley. The reason is clear: how could a TV series with a strange title and created by an unknown Scottish comedian compete in an awards race dominated by more traditional products such as Fargo And True Detective: Night Country?

And then Baby Reindeer debuted. Critics and viewers immediately responded enthusiastically to the heartbreaking series, based on the acclaimed one-man show by Richard Gadd which recounts his real experiences with a stalker named Martha (played in the series by Jessica Gunning). It jumped to the top of Netflix’s daily top 10 and upended an awards race that seemed certain.

The series entered the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards with 11 nominations and two Creative Arts Emmy Awards, for editing and casting. Baby Reindeer was favored to win most of the categories in which it was nominated. At the end of the night, the show took home the award for Outstanding Limited Series, with creator Gadd winning for both acting and writing in a limited or anthology series. In the “outstanding-supporting-actress” category, Gunning triumphed over Mau Ship (the first transgender performer to be nominated in the category). Tom Goodman Hill, who plays Gadd’s character’s rapist, has been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor at the 2024 Emmys – an award that went to Lamorne Morris OfFargo – while the direction of a limited series went to Steven Zaillian For Ripley.

After the show’s sensational spring debut, the cast of Baby Reindeer has been propelled to a slew of awards, and the buzz has even led to Gadd’s next series for HBO. “It’s weird that a show that’s so messed up has resonated with so many people,” Gadd said while accepting an award at the first Gotham TV Awards in June. “I think it speaks to the fact that, I think, a lot of people in the world are struggling right now. I don’t have a lot of advice, but I know that nothing lasts forever. So if you’re struggling, just keep going. Persevere, persevere, persevere, and I promise you, things will get better.”

The only barrier that stood between Baby Reindeer and a handful of Emmys may have been the controversy over the veracity of the story. In May, a woman named Fiona Harvey publicly identified herself as the real Martha during a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. Shortly thereafter, the woman filed a lawsuit against Netflix, suing the streamer for $170 million, alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and violation of her right of publicity.

Gadd, who was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, previously implored viewers to stop looking for the real people behind his characters: “I think this does a disservice to art. I have spoken out publicly against this phenomenon and said I want it to stop. I think that has had an impact,” he told Vanity Fair America. A Netflix representative later said: “We intend to vigorously defend this matter and support Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”