A judge in the US has ruled that Baby Reindeer is not a true story and that Scots law graduate Fiona Harvey can go ahead with her lawsuit against Netflix.
Harvey, 59, filed a defamation lawsuit earlier this year seeking £130 million including punitive damages against the streaming channel.
Netflix subsequently stated they would “vigorously defend” Scots comedian Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story and filed a motion with the court in Los Angeles.
Judge Robert Gary Klausner, who previously ruled on a copyright case involving Led Zeppelin’s classic song Stairway To Heaven, has thrown out Netflix‘s call for him to drop the lawsuit. He has decided that, while Harvey’s “purported actions are reprehensible”, the fictional character Martha’s behaviour was “worse”, and she therefore has a case.
The Record first revealed in April that, while Netflix opens the Emmy award-winning series with the words, “This is a true story,” there were differences between the events in the series and in reality, including that Harvey had not been convicted of stalking.
In an exclusive interview, Harvey confirmed the Baby Reindeer character was based on her and claimed she was the victim in the story and had never been to prison, unlike the character based on her. A series of Record interviews with Harvey were followed by her appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored in which she doubled down on her claim that she had never been to prison. She also denied being in love with Gadd.
In his response to Netflix’s motion to drop the case which he has thrown out, Judge Klausner added: “There is a major difference between stalking and being convicted of stalking in a court of law. Likewise, there are major differences between inappropriate touching and sexual assault, as well as between shoving and gouging another’s eyes. While plaintiff’s purported actions are reprehensible, defendants’ statements are of a worse degree and could produce a different effect in the mind of a viewer.”
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
The Judge dismissed and added Harvey can move forward with her lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress, however her claims of negligence, violation of her publicity rights, and for punitive damages were dismissed.
He said: “It appears that a reasonable viewer could understand the statements about Martha to be about the plaintiff. The series states that plaintiff is a convicted criminal who sexually and violently assaulted Gadd. These statements may rise to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct.”
Baby Reindeer has won a string of awards and has become one of Netflix’s most watched series.
Harvey told The Record: “Baby Reindeer is not a true story. We are suing on that basis. “It has caused total upheaval in my life and the lives of other people. My life has been put at risk with death threats. There is no veracity to the Netflix show with reference to me, Fiona Harvey.”
On Friday, Judge Klausner ruled that Harvey can move forward with parts of her lawsuit, claiming that the opening message about the show being “a true story” led viewers to think Baby Reindeer was entirely factual.
Gadd said in a filing in July that the series is “emotionally true” to his own life, and not intended to be a “a beat-for-beat recounting”, while also detailing “stalking, harassment, abuse and threats” that he allegedly endured from the claimant between 2014 and 2017.
Gadd portrays a fictional version of himself, Donny, in the show. The seven-part programme depicts Gadd’s real experience of being stalked by an older woman who is called ‘Martha’, and a title card in the first episode claims it is a “true story”. Judge Klausner ruled that this billing of the story as “true” wasn’t accurate.
Though Harvey had not been named in the show, viewers were able to identify her through an identical social media post used in Baby Reindeer to one she had sent Gadd. He claims she sent him 41,000 emails, hundreds of voice messages and over 100 letters.
A spokesperson for Netflix said earlier this year: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
Gadd has since responded to the lawsuit too, detailing what he describes as the “exhausting and extremely upsetting” stalking he allegedly experienced at the hands of Harvey in a 21-page document filed to a California court on July 29.
In his acceptance speech at the Emmys recently, he said: “Look, 10 years ago, I was down and out right? I never, ever thought I’d get my life together. I never, ever thought I’d be able to rectify myself for what had happened to me and get myself back on my feet again. And then here I am, just over a decade later picking up one of the biggest writing awards in television.”
He added: “I don’t mean that to sound arrogant – I mean it as encouragement for anyone who’s going through a difficult time now to persevere. I don’t know much about life, I don’t know why we’re here; none of that. But I do know that nothing lasts forever and no matter how bad it gets, it always gets better. So if you’re struggling, keep going. Keep going and I promise you, things will be okay.”
In the series, he reveals he was raped multiple times by a powerful theatre producer who promises to help him with his career and has yet to be identified. He is later seen returning to work with the producer who has promised to help him with his career.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletterhere.