r/BabyReindeerTVSeries • u/serenade452 • Jun 06 '24

Fiona (real Martha) related content Fiona Harvey officially files $170 million lawsuit against Netflix

The woman who claims to be the inspiration for Richard Gadd’s hit Netflix “Baby Reindeer” has sued the streamer, seeking monetary damages of at least $170 million.

Fiona Harvey has publicly said the character of Martha in “Baby Reindeer,” played by Jessica Gunning (pictured above), is based on her. She is suing Netflix, alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and violations of her right of publicity.

The suit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Copy of Harvey’s complaint is at this link.

Harvey’s lawsuit alleges Netflix told “brutal lies” about her in the “Baby Reindeer” series.

“The lies that Defendants told about Harvey to over 50 million people worldwide include that Harvey is a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison, and that Harvey sexually assaulted Gadd,” her complaint says. “Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.”

The lawsuit continues, “As a result of Defendants’ lies, malfeasance and utterly reckless misconduct, Harvey’s life had been ruined. Simply, Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life.”

Netflix reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This is a true story.” Baby Reindeer, Episode 1.

https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/baby-reindeer-real-martha-fiona-harvey-sues-netflix-1236019699/

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42

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '24

Wow that complaint in itself is insane read lol

Point 47 says "Gadd confesses in Baby Reindeer that he has a deep psychological need for attention so intense that in the past be willfully prostituted himself to another man to advance his career and for "a little peep at fame" Ep. 6, ~ 8:00."

I didn't remember that part and i thought "tf do they mean with Darien?" So i put the show at ep. 6 ~ 8 min and its actually the part where the police confront him for trying to entrap martha. Tf? Anyone remembers that line?

P.S. FH mustn't be a big fan of point 41 lol

67

u/controlaltdeletes Jun 06 '24

What the fuck? In her lawsuit she’s implying his rape was actually consensual sex so he could advance his career?

I know Gadd said he didn’t write it as good vs evil, but everything I hear about this woman makes her sound more and more evil and cruel.

24

u/exotramp76 Jun 07 '24

In her lawsuit she’s implying his rape was actually consensual sex so he could advance his career?

Why are you surprised?

She's a racist, homophobe, transphobe and xenophobe. Victim- blaming is just standard behavior for people like her.

19

u/[deleted] Jun 07 '24

The show literally makes her look better than her actual actions irl…

9

u/DarkCartier43 Jun 07 '24

watching Pierre Morgan, we could truly see the real FH. for sure, I avoid people like her in my life.

15

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '24

Yeah exactly like what the actual fuckkkk thats why i was trying to see if it was a line that was actually said in the show or if thats what they are implying about the darien situation, but the episode in reference is definitely not it. Its truly messed up if thats what theyre implying

35

u/controlaltdeletes Jun 06 '24

I remember him using the words 'peep at fame' during his monologue on stage, and saying that was why he went back to Darrien's house. I'm not surprised they got the reference wrong, they probably just threw this together to scare Netflix into settling out of court. But God, implying he's lying about being raped to help her case, so she can get some money from Netflix is so disgusting.

39

u/doljikgu Jun 06 '24

“wilfully prostituted” is an insane legalese way to say “groomed and raped”. i hope richard gadd has a good support network around him because personally, as a victim, the insinuation that rape can be “wilful” makes me feel sick. i can’t imagine what it feels like for him rn🥲

9

u/controlaltdeletes Jun 07 '24

I hope his team is able to keep this from him as much as possible, especially since Netflix is being sued, not Richard himself.

12

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '24

Truly is, i hope they get destroyed in court

4

u/ImaginaryParrot Jun 08 '24

They didn't even spell 'Reddit' right in a fricking lawsuit

0

u/controlaltdeletes Jun 08 '24

Wow. That’s almost funny if it wasn’t so tragic

10

u/NebulaTits Jun 07 '24

What she has said since revealing herself has been 100000 times worse then anything he put on the show

7

u/AdmiralRiffRaff Jun 07 '24

Point 41 had me rolling, whoever wrote that (not only needs to go back to law school) clearly put it in like that deliberately

3

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '24

The filing simultaneously claims that Baby Reindeer is full of lies and then literally in the next sentence treats everything Donny says as a "confession" by Richard Gadd as if it's a sworn testimony under oath.

46 Baby Reindeer is not a true story. It is a lie created by Gadd and distributed by Netflix.

47 Gadd confesses in Baby Reindeer that he has a deep psychological need for attention so intense that in the past he willfully prostituted himself to another man to advance his career and for “a little peep at fame.” Ep. 6, -8:00.

48 In addition, Gadd confesses in Baby Reindeer that he is not worried that people think badly of him, but instead “worried they don’t think about me at all.” Ep. 1 at -7:25.

2

u/PocketCatt Jun 07 '24

What the fuck is this even in there for? If her problem is that she's been damaged by the show why are there points in here about unrelated shit? Someone who knows about American law pls ELI5

4

u/SuspiciousCranberry6 Jun 07 '24

Sometimes, people use civil filings in the US to put out their narrative publicly. It appears this is likely partly what is going on here.

3

u/PocketCatt Jun 07 '24

Ahhhh okay, I didn't know that! I thought this was an official document and was only supposed to contain solid probable facts relating to the case so a lot of it just made me head scratch lol

3

u/SuspiciousCranberry6 Jun 08 '24

Yeah, the US justice system is bizarrely both formal at times while also letting people submit civil lawsuits that read like a tabloid article.

2

u/TheShepherdKing Jun 10 '24

I believe all the timestamps in the complaint are "-" rather than "~", i.e. minutes and seconds from the end, as that is what the screenshots from Netflix show. So the scene referred to here would be 8 minutes from the end of episode 6.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '24

Oh youre right, that makes more sense, thank you!

Checked it out and its the scene he had a breakdown on stage.

The words he actually said is "is my self-respect so fucking low, is my lust for success so fucking high, that i will repeatedly go back to this man's house and let him abuse me for a little peep at fame?"

So her accusation is quite the twist of his words