Netflix’s buzzworthy new series Baby Reindeer has sparked an unexpected controversy, as a woman has come forward claiming the show falsely depicts her as a dangerous stalker.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, the unnamed woman alleges that Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd has effectively turned the tables and is now “stalking” her through his semi-autobiographical dark comedy.
“He’s using Baby Reindeer to stalk me now,” she told the tabloid. “I’m the victim. He’s written a bloody show about me.”
The eight-episode series stars Gadd playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself – a down-on-his-luck comedian named Donny who falls into the crosshairs of an increasingly unhinged fan named Martha, portrayed by Jessica Gunning. Over several years, Martha bombards Donny with tens of thousands of emails, letters, and voicemails in a relentless stalking campaign.
While Netflix billed the show as depicting events pulled from Gadd’s real life, he has acknowledged changing certain identifying details about the stalker for legal reasons.
But the woman claims Gadd’s loosely fictionalized portrayal amounts to “bullying an older woman on television for fame and fortune.” She alleges the show has drawn in online harassment, stating she has received “death threats and abuse from Richard Gadd supporters” who wrongly believe she is Martha.
The woman is reportedly considering legal action against Gadd and the show’s producers for defamation over her depiction in Baby Reindeer.
For his part, Gadd has urged viewers to stop trying to unmask the real individuals behind his darkly comedic storylines. In a social media post, he asked fans directly “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show.”
The series has proven a word-of-mouth hit for Netflix since its April release. However, this new alleged defamation case could be bad for Baby Reindeer’s buzzworthy success if it escalates into a legal battle over truth versus fiction.
