A TV regulator has said that Fiona Harvey is owed an apology after Netflix billed Baby Reindeer as a ‘true story’. The hit Netflix show was written by Richard Gadd and based on his own experience of being stalked in his early 20s by an older woman.
Although the show changed the character’s name to ‘Martha’, fans of the show were quickly able to identify Richard’s alleged stalker as a Scottish woman called Fiona Harvey, who has since announced that she is suing Netflix for £132million for defamation, negligence intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of right of publicity.
Speaking at an RTS event, a consultant to Ofcom, Duane Dedman, said: “On Baby Reindeer the short answer is I have no idea how Netflix can justify saying this is a true story and then at the end of the end credits say something like, some scenes were fictionalised and the characters conflated.
“That’s obviously seen as contradictory and we shall see if the court case in America ever goes to trial or whether they settle out of court
He added that he thought Netflix owed Fiona an explanation, saying: “Personally, arguably, yes [Netflix owe her an apology] but I guess this will play out in the courts. And I guess Netflix are deliberately being tight-lipped about this because perhaps they have a robust case to rebut her claims.
“Now, all I know about Netflix is there are a team of lawyers there, there is a compliance team there, so someone, more than once will have cast their eyes over the script and the final programme. I literally can’t second guess as to why they came to that decision, so I don’t want to go there, but I guess this will play out.”
Netflix has released a statement about the upcoming case, saying: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.
Speaking to Piers Morgan about the case, Fiona said: “We’ve had no apologies from Netflix or him, nothing. I mean, for someone who says he feels sorry for me, I’ve had no apology. My character seems to have smashed up a bar, sexually assaulted him in a canal, been to prison. There are a number of other allegations, and… That’s not true.”
She added: “He is lying and they are lying. And in order for a dramatisation to be true, it’s got to be… the only defence is Veritas. I’m telling the truth. Or, the whole drama needs to be true. They have billed it as a ‘true story’. So has he. And it’s not. It’s blatantly not. Even if the email thing was true, the rest is not.”