A Scottish lawyer named Fiona Harvey claims to be Martha the stalker who appears in “Baby Reindeer “. The Netflix series is based on the true story of Richard Gadd who reports having been pursued by a woman – who he gives the fictitious name of Martha – for years.
Released in April this year on the streaming service, the series follows the relationship between a comedian – who is played by Gadd – and a woman who, after he is kind to her, becomes obsessed with him and starts chasing him. What impressed the audience most is that the plot and outcome of the story are inspired by the protagonist's real, personal story.
Because it was inspired by true events, the series made fans want to scour the internet to find out the real people involved. At the time, Gadd even spoke out asking that speculation not be made about who people would be in real life. “That’s not the point of our series,” he wrote.
However, the woman who would be Martha's inspiration decided to reveal her identity herself.
Previously, the newspaper DailyMail had already announced that the woman – who at the time wanted to remain anonymous – was considering going to court for defamation.
Now, in a recent interview, she decided to speak openly about herself and the series.
At the Daily Record, the alleged Martha said that she authorized her name and face to be published. “I give you permission to put my name because people need to know what’s going on,” she said.
In the series, the stalker was sentenced to serve four years and nine months in prison. Fiona Harvey, however, claims she was never arrested. “I never went to prison,” she said. “I don’t know where those four years and nine months fit into this.”
“Nothing said happened, it’s a bunch of nonsense”, he said.
Harvey also said he plans to take legal action against Gadd and Netflix over the story. “I have no money, but I am a perfectly capable lawyer so I will represent myself,” she told Daily Record.
This was just a conversation between the lawyer and the newspaper. She also gave an interview to presenter Piers Morgan, which will be shown on TV later this week.
The supposed real-life Martha from “Baby Reindeer”
Although Richard Gadd asked people not to look for the real inspirations for “Baby Reindeer,” “internet investigators” found the woman who was supposedly Martha.
Her identity is the same as the woman who revealed herself to be the inspiration for the series: Fiona Harvey.
Although Harvey says the series is “full of lies”, she assured that the series was inspired by her – so much so that she wants to sue Netflix and Gadd for defamation.
Upon finding Harvey's name, fans found an account on X, which was still Twitter at the time, that was supposedly linked to her.
Posts dating back to 2014 – the time Gadd was targeted – show Harvey mentioning and trying to communicate with Gadd. One example is a tweet that referenced a line that is even said in the series: “I need my curtains to hang so bad.”
After finding this profile on social media, people who watched the series engaged with the posts. This one about the curtains, for example, has accumulated more than 9 thousand likes.
Other posts also addressed to Gadd on Twitter ask if he received her emails or if he could “urgently call her” to talk about whether or not he received the letters she sent to him.
To date, Richard Gadd has not publicly commented on Fiona Harvey.
*Published by Giovanna Bronze
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
