Fiona Harvey, who had been tagged as the alleged real-life Martha stalker depicted in Baby Reindeer, has now officially sued Netflix for millions.
Despite the immense success of Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer, inspired by his own experiences, it was followed with more than a bit of backlash.
As the series became one of the most watched on Netflix, fans uncovered that Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey was possibly the real Martha, which soon spiraled to many attacking Harvey on social media.
With the spotlight now on her, she promised to take legal action against Gadd and Netflix for defamation and breach of privacy.
According to Variety, Harvey has finally done just that, suing Netflix and seeking monetary damages worth $170 million.
She filed the lawsuit in California for “alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and violations of her right of publicity.”
Harvey had previously made it known that she had received death threats, malicious comments, and more. It was revealed that there’s no public information about Harvey being convicted of stalking Gadd.
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The public lawsuit reads that Harvey is an “innocent woman defamed by Netflix and Richard Gadd at a magnitude and scale without precedent.”
It also states that the defendants “told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.” Gadd had previously explained in interviews that he changed details about the real-life Martha.
But internet sleuths found messages on Harvey’s Facebook around the time the series takes place. The messages used similar language to what was seen in Baby Reindeer.
Neither Netflix nor Gadd has come out publically to address the lawsuit. The lawsuit comes just weeks after Harvey appeared on Piers Morgan’s YouTube show to explain her side of the story.
Baby Reindeer is available to stream on Netflix, and you can read about Gadd’s new film, what scenes should have been cut, and new TV series streaming.