LAWYERS for Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha are demanding the release of thousands of texts and emails for a £135million lawsuit against Netflix.
Fiona Harvey, 58, accuses the streaming giant of the “biggest lie in TV history”.
Internet sleuths say she inspired the character Martha, played by Jessica Gunning, who harasses a comedian based on the show’s creator, real-life comic Richard Gadd.
Ms Harvey claims the show, which is billed as a true story and has been watched by 50million, defames her by wrongly portraying her as a twice- convicted stalker.
The legal documents, submitted in California, also say Netflix has made no effort to ascertain the accuracy of the “true story” claim.
Harvey, is seeking at least £40million damages, £40million for “mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of business”, £40million from show profits, and £15million punitive damages.
Netflix said: “We intend to defend this vigorously.”
Mr Gadd, who is not a defendant, has not commented.
Baby Reindeer by numbers
The Netflix series has become quite the breakout smash hit...
- 7 Number of episodes in the series
- 30 Number of countries the series has topped the Netflix chart in
- 64 Percentage increase in viewers the show earned in its second week, compared to its first
- 97 The show’s percentage score on industry bible Rotten Tomatoes
- 41,071 Amount of emails Richard claims he was sent by the real life Martha
- 13.3 million Number of viewers who tuned into the show during its first week