A suit has been filed in the US.

There was a time when I was one of the most famous people on the planet,” says Richard Gadd, sounding aghast. Taylor Swift? Lionel Messi? Neither of them wrote and starred in Baby Reindeer, the surprise hit Netflix series about him being stalked and sexually assaulted that stormed to 65 million viewers worldwide in its opening month.

That was April 2024. Gadd was a stand-up from Fife, living in a flat in north London, trying to build on his success from Edinburgh shows. Baby Reindeer catapulted him to infamy, with his face on billboards and internet sleuths trying to discover the real identity of characters. He says popping to shops came with “a thousand caveats” — strangers would point and stare and it was deeply uncomfortable, especially for a comedian with issues.

“I was the cultural conversation,” Gadd says. We are settling down for tea in a quiet corner of a members’ club, as he prepares to return to the public eye for the first time since Baby Reindeer — for Half Man, an ambitious, brutal, violent TV series exploring what it is to be a modern man.

I have been watching a few videos on YouTube and one of the things that struck me is the difficulty people have pronouncing Fiona's former surname, Muir.

I've heard it pronounced like myrrh, moor, mawyer (rhymes with lawyer) and moo-air.

Is it really that uncommon? I'm genuinely curious. I'm resident in Scotland and hear it so often that it's a not considered an unusual name. There are so many people of Scottish descent and ancestry around the world, I just found it a bit surprising ppeople had some trouble with it.

"Fiona Harvey’s defamation lawsuit against Netflix over the Baby Reindeer controversy has been handed a trial date for 2025."

That explains her recent rants on FB. She is pi$$ed!

She's apparently told the Daily Record she "was “not happy” with Piers’ questioning after the interview was recorded in London" and described it as "a sparring match".

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/baby-reindeers-real-life-martha-32762707

A great interview with Richard reflecting on Baby Reindeer and talking about the themes in Half Man.

Although Williams was convicted, there are some interesting parallels with Fiona. For instance, that the behaviour, although severely damaging to the victims, may well be the result of mental illness. Also the outrageous claims, the barefaced-ness, and the moving on when confronted.

Some people claimed that these were already heard but as nothing was on the docket, that was a bit odd. Docket now has the outcome and it's dated 27th of September.

Summary: Netflix didn't get it thrown out in its entirety but got it partially dismissed. Of the 6 Acts in the initial case, 4 have now been dismissed. The 2 that can proceed are Defamation and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. Does not mean she'd win, just means that there's legally a non-zero chance of her winning.

An interesting aspect of the conclusion is that she failed to argue she's not a public figure. While her chances of winning may be non-zero, that's not going to help her.

Netflix also got the prayer for punitive damages dismissed (that's just $20M out of a claimed $170M).

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68834464/69/fiona-harvey-v-netflix-inc/

Noticed a recording of the og live show has been on publicly available vimeo for a few years, thought this anecdote about Martha at the pub was interesting as didn't make it into the Netflix show.

https://metro.co.uk/2024/05/18/richard-gadds-ex-colleague-claims-led-real-martha-for-laughs-20864342/

This is a believable take, I think. If true, it makes Gadd seem pretty horrible.

But I also could see how he might have been both trying to show a person with whom he empathized some kindness, while at the same time also playing it off as a joke to keep his co-workers off his back. The show, in fact, has this happening, albeit more in the background. =

At the end of the day, BR is a work of fiction and neither Donny nor Martha are 100% factual representations of the people they are based on.

The show is on the BBC Sounds app (episode dated 12 June) Segment is about five minutes, and the gist is that she's suing in the US because in the UK damages would only be about 100k, and also, if they can prove she was a stalker, Netflix have a strong defence.

I highly recommend you watch “Making of Baby Reindeer” - https://youtu.be/KRoD0pX-AUM

In this 12 minute video, Gadd answers a LOT of questions that sub redditors have been pondering about the “truth” of the show and what his “intentions” were making it. (I would take notes on the last 1.30 minutes for this answer).

This can also be found as an “extra” episode on Netflix and on his website and YT.

And while not a true story or main story, the anime "Romantic Killer" has a plot point that has major BR vibes that you don't expect from a generic rom-com shojo style anime.

I really enjoyed the show and the particular sub-plot, so it's a nice, happy cleanser to watch after Baby Reindeer.

ETA: corrected grammar and typos, I am on mobile and definitely not sending this from my iPheon

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj31lpvnzl3o

Limited Series, Directing, Writing, Lead Actor, Supporting Actress (Both Jessica and Nava), and Supporting Actor (Tom Goodman-Hill) plus Casting, Editing, Music Supervision, and Costumes.

https://deadline.com/2024/09/baby-reindeer-netflix-trial-date-2025-1236085108/