Defamation, negligence and privacy violations claimed against Netflix

The entertainment giant Netflix has been hit by a lawsuit shortly after the release of its drama, Baby Reindeer. The drama depicts the story of a struggling comic, Donny Dunn, being harassed and stalked by Martha Scott for many years. The series was written by and stars comedian Richard Gadd, who wrote the series about his own alleged experience of being stalked.

Both Mr Gadd and Netflix claim to have endeavoured to safeguard Martha’s real identity. That said, the first episode of the series claims that “this is a true story” and the show’s end credits say that the programme is “based on real events. However certain characters, names, incidents, locations, and dialogue have been fictionalised for dramatic purposes.” Nevertheless, it appeared that many fans took it upon themselves to unravel the mystery. None of the parties involved confirmed the real identity of Martha. Scottish law graduate, Fiona Harvey, however came forward during an interview with Piers Morgan in “Piers Morgan Uncensored” where she claimed that she inspired the stalker character of Martha.

Fiona Harvey claims that the series falsely depicted her as a stalker who was a convicted criminal, and that Netflix did not investigate to confirm whether or not Mr Gadd’s story was in fact true. In one scene in particular, viewers can see Martha sexually assaulting Donny along a canal one night. Ms Harvey denies ever sexually assaulting Mr Gadd and went on to declare that Netflix “told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money”. She has now filed a lawsuit.

Moreover, in Ms Harvey’s interview with Piers Morgan, she did confirm that she had known Mr Gadd and that although they seemed to have exchanged a few “jokey banter emails”, she fully denied having ever sent over 40,000 emails or having left 350 hours of voicemail messages as portrayed in the series. However, the lawsuit does say that there are some real comments she made to Mr Gadd which were used in the show’s dialogue.

Ms Harvey accuses Netflix of ruining her reputation in their depiction of the stalker. She has declared that since the series, she has received many death threats which has left her afraid of leaving her house or even checking the news. In the lawsuit, it is said that she has “become extremely secluded and isolated, in fear of the public, going days without leaving her home”. Netflix has always shown its support to Mr Gadd in declaring that the show was “obviously a true story of the horrific abuse that the writer and protagonist Richard Gadd suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker”.

Harvey did warn in May that she planned to take legal action against Netflix and has now moved on to formally file for a lawsuit for defamation, negligence, and privacy violations. Fiona’s lawyers are seeking actual damages of $50million (£39 million), plus legal fees and statutory interest. Ms Harvey told BBC News that her team would win the case “otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it”. In addition, her lawyer declared that there was no doubt that Ms Harvey’s identity was used for the show and that he had “incontrovertible documentary evidence” proving that his client had never been convicted of a crime. This would include a background check and certificate confirming that Ms Harvey has no criminal convictions on her record.

Notwithstanding all of the above, and whether or not the character of Martha was indeed inspired by Ms Harvey, it is undeniable that Ms Harvey’s privacy and reputation has been impacted. Should Netflix have undertaken a better duty of care when it comes to the identity of the characters in the show? This would be a question for the courts to decide.

It can be delicate to navigate the law when it comes to media and entertainment as well as a source of great stress when entering into a dispute. Our commercial team has a wide range of experience and would be happy to assist both individuals and businesses with any issues they may have.

For further advice and assistance, please contact our Commercial Solicitors on 01604 828282 / 01908 660966 or email info@franklins-sols.co.uk