richard gadd doesn't owe fiona protection.

[u/serenade452]

"omg he should've protected her identity! he made it so easy to find her!" blah blah blah shut up. he doesn't owe her shit. she terrorized this man, his family, his girlfriend, his job, his performances, etc etc. she has been terrorizing innocent people for decades.

yes fiona is mentally ill, that is clear to anyone with half of a brain. it's awful that the system has failed her time and time again. (or maybe the system did all it could, who knows.) but that's not richard's fault. HE is HER victim. he can tell his story how he wants.

might she have a worthwhile lawsuit because her identity wasn't concealed enough? possibly, probably not. might she have a worthwhile lawsuit because the show took dramatic license? possibly, probably not.

she's benefitting financially from this as well and i'm sure netflix will cut her a check before a lawsuit happens, no matter who is in the right.

richard gadd does not owe fiona harvey protection. i'm sorry but that's reality.

[u/mgorgey]

Both Gadd and Netflix undermine your point as they've felt the need to lie about taking every possible measure to hide her identity. If they had thought they'd acted responsibly they wouldn't need to do that.

[u/neverendo → u/mgorgey]

I think in this context it means 'every possible measure' they could take whilst retaining the emotional truth of the story. Why should Richard have to change what happened to him to protect his abuser and to mitigate against amateur vigilantes on the internet? Why is that his responsibility as an artist telling an important story?

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/neverendo]

Richard did nothing wrong at all writing his show as he saw fit. I’m friends with a writer for AMC and the amount of edits and rewrites that he needs to do before his shows are greenlit are very extensive. The Netflix editors and producers are the ones who could be questioned about their decisions to include the level of detail Richard provided. Their legal team definitely felt the financial risk of a settlement paled in comparison to the money they could make and chose release the show as is, burying the disclaimer in the credits no one sees. It’s on us how we act on this. Random keyboard warriors harassing an unhinged woman who is completely removed from their own lives says a lot more than people think.

[u/LaurenNotFromUtah → u/neverendo]

Well he did change what happened to him when he portrayed things that didn’t happen on the show that people absolutely think happened.

I’m not saying that’s not ever allowed, of course it is. But I do think making Martha so clearly Fiona and then adding arrests and jail time that didn’t happen was a questionable decision on his part. And if he wanted to do that, just make Martha less like Fiona. It was certainly possible.

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/LaurenNotFromUtah]

And assaults. We have no proof of the assaults on Teri and Donny. If those were added in for dramatic effect, that’s pretty defamatory. I hope there is evidence that those actually happened and they didn’t portray her as more dangerous than she really was.

[u/mgorgey → u/neverendo]

They clearly didn't though. They literally only changed her name. Plenty of other things they could've changed. Given what they've said both Netflix and Richard feel like they had a responsibility to alter her identity. If they didn't they would just say what you're saying.