Despite pleas from creator Richard Gadd to focus on the positive outcomes of his Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, a judge has ruled that Fiona Harvey – who says she is the real-life inspiration for stalker Martha Scott – can move forward with her $170 million defamation lawsuit.
A statement from U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner read, in part: “Defendants argue that a reasonable person would not understand that Martha is, in actual fact, Plaintiff, such that any statements about Martha would be about Plaintiff. In particular, Defendants argue that the similarities between Martha and Plaintiff are so broad that a reasonable person would not have been able to identify her. The Court disagrees.”
The written statement went on to further outline why Fiona Harvey has a case against Netflix and Baby Reindeer, saying the similarities between both Harvey and her so-called fictional counterpart are too specific to be considered broad characteristics. The judge would cite the Harvey and Martha both being Scottish lawyers residing in London, the two being 20 years older than Richard Gadd/Donny Dunn and more, summarizing this portion with, “While there may be numerous Scottish lawyers living in London of the same approximate age as Plaintiff, it is very likely that only Plaintiff has been accused of stalking a lawyer in a newspaper article while also communicating with Gadd on social media.”
Of course, Netflix is going to go all in on the Baby Reindeer lawsuit, as it is undoubtedly their most high-profile one ever related to one of their original works. They had previously seen smaller ones over everything from the widely popular Squid Game taking up too much broadband in South Korea to a real-life family member of Griselda Blanco – the subject of miniseries Griselda – saying they didn’t give permission for their likeness. The Griselda case was dismissed, while Netflix simply decided to become partners with the South Korean group suing them. (There is currently another claim against Netflix over the plot of Squid Game being stolen from another movie.) In short, Fiona Harvey has a long road ahead if she’s going to come out victorious, especially to the tune of $170 million.
And while he is not explicitly named, Richard Gadd recently said that he would be prepared to testify should he be called to the stand in the Baby Reindeer case. With it moving forward and currently set for a May 6th, 2025 start, we could see Gadd defending what became his breakout series, taking home four Emmys, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
How do you see the lawsuit against Netflix over Baby Reindeer shaking out? Give us your predictions in the comments section below.