The woman who allegedly inspired the stalker character Martha in Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer,” Fiona Harvey, is suing Netflix for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims.
Netflix has also announced its intention to defend itself against this multi-million-dollar lawsuit filed by Ms Harvey.
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The 58-year-old is suing the streaming giant for defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of the right of publicity, among other charges.
She filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Central District of California, seeking damages of US$ US170 million ($255 million).
This includes $50 million each for actual and compensatory damages, covering mental anguish and profits, along with at least $20 million in punitive damages.
Ms Harvey claimed that the character Martha in “Baby Reindeer,” played by Jessica Gunning, was based on her and falsely depicted her as an obsessed stalker.
She said that Netflix used many of the phrases she had used in communications with Richard Gadd, the writer, actor, and comedian who created and starred in the series.
She also claimed that the show made little effort to conceal her identity, including details about her job as a lawyer.
“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. Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money,” Ms Harvey stated in the lawsuit.
“And Netflix, a multi-national billion dollar entertainment streaming company did literally nothing to confirm the ‘true story’ that Gadd told.”
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