SO IT BEGINS

‘Baby Reindeer’s’ Real-Life Martha Finally Files Defamation Lawsuit

The woman who inspired the stalker character Martha in Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” has filed the suit she’d been threatening since she first came into the spotlight.

Netflix’s uber-popular series Baby Reindeer has been sued by Fiona Harvey, the woman who claims to be the real-life inspiration behind the show’s antagonist. The show, which follows the life and plights of comedian Donny Dunn and is based on “real events” from writer Richard Gadd’s life, follows Dunn as he’s plagued by a female stalker named Martha. Harvey first officially came out as real-life Martha with a heated interview on broadcaster Piers Morgan’s show, during which she accused Netflix and Gadd of exaggerating her real-life behavior to create the drama series and threatened to sue after cyber sleuths uncovered her real identity. On Thursday she made good on that threat and filed a lawsuit alleging that Netflix “did literally nothing” to confirm the details in the story before billing it as based a true story. In the series, Martha is depicted as a convicted criminal who sexually assaulted Gadd, which Harvey has said is not true. She is now seeking $170 million in damages for negligence and discrimination.