Baby Reindeer: Woman sues Netflix for $170 million over Martha character

A Scottish woman who allegedly inspired the stalker character Martha in hit Netflix drama Baby Reindeer is suing the streamer for defamation, negligence and invasions of privacy.

Fiona Harvey – who identified herself as the woman Martha was based on – argued in a lawsuit that Netflix told “monstrous lies” about her to more than 50 million viewers around the world.

The lawsuit, filed in a California court, seeks damages in excess of $170 million (£132 million) for Ms Harvey. She claims the Baby Reindeer series falsely portrayed her as a convicted felon who spent time in prison for stalking.

Netflix pledged to “vigorously defend this matter.”

She said she would uphold the right of the series’ creator and star, Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, to “tell his story.”

Gad wrote the series about his alleged experience when he was stalked by a woman he met at the bar where he worked. He has previously implored fans to refrain from trying to identify with Martha, a character he first described in a comedy routine.

He was not named as a defendant in Ms. Harvey’s lawsuit.

The first episode of the miniseries claims, “This is a true story.” The show’s end credits say that the program is “based on true events: but some characters, names, incidents, locations, and dialogue have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.”

Neither Mr. Judd nor Ms. Harvey’s real names were used in the series, and neither Netflix nor Mr. Judd have confirmed that Martha was inspired by Ms. Harvey.

While giving evidence to Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee last month, Netflix CEO Benjamin King said the show was “clearly a true story of the horrific abuse suffered by writer and protagonist Richard Judd at the hands of a convicted stalker”.

King was then challenged by an MP – John Nicholson of the Scottish National Party – to prove his statements. “Journalists were unable to find any evidence to support Netflix’s claim” to convict the woman identified as Martha’s inspiration, Nicholson said.

For its part, Ms. Harvey alleges in her suit that Netflix “did literally nothing” to confirm the veracity of Mr. Gadd’s story.

Harvey also denies that she sexually assaulted the series’ creator, according to court documents, which allege Netflix “told these lies, and they never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories make money.”

In one scene in the series, the character Martha is depicted as sexually assaulting the series’ protagonist along a canal one night.