A woman who says she is the inspiration for the relentless stalker at the center of Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” sued the streaming giant Thursday for defamation and is seeking at least $170 million in damages.
Fiona Harvey, a Scottish attorney living in England who says the character Martha on the widely viewed limited series is clearly based on her, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles that also alleges that Netflix was negligent, intentionally subjected her to emotional distress and violated her right to publicity.
On the British black comedy based on a one-man stage show by Richard Gadd, Gadd plays a doppelganger named Donny Dunn, who in his day job at a pub gives Martha, a bubby, quick-to-laugh customer, a free cup of tea. She eventually becomes a stalker who sends him tens of thousands of emails, tweets at him hundreds of times, smashes a bottle over his head and gouges his eyes, sexually assaults him, and is eventually arrested and sent to prison.
None of this actually happened, according to the lawsuit.
“The lies that Defendants told about Harvey to over 50 million people worldwide include that Harvey is a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison, and that Harvey sexually assaulted Gadd,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money.”
Harvey also never previously stalked a police officer, as Gadd’s character learns on the show, the lawsuit says.
Netflix responded with a statement saying, “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”
The lawsuit alleges the streamer did nothing to determine whether the stalking, assault, and convictions were accurate, nor did it do anything to understand the actual relationship between Harvey and Gadd.
“Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life,” the suit says.
Gadd is not named as a defendant, but emails sent seeking comment from attorneys representing him were not immediately returned.
The show premiered on Netflix in April, and Harvey publicly came forward and gave an interview to journalist Piers Morgan about a month later. But the lawsuit says viewers and British media outlets had identified her well before that, and they have tormented her constantly since.
This was possible, the lawsuit says, because on the show Martha creates social media posts identical to searchable posts by Harvey, including one in which she says, “my curtains need hung badly,” which is used as a sexual euphemism on the show.
The lawsuit also alleges that Harvey bears an “uncanny resemblance” to Martha, saying her “accent, manner of speaking and cadence” are “indistinguishable.”
The lawsuit says that the series’ claim at the beginning of its first episode that it’s a true story is “the biggest lie in television history” and that its defamation of Harvey is “at a magnitude and scale without precedent.”
Harvey is seeking all profits from “Baby Reindeer” and asks that punitive and other damages be awarded that would total at least $170 million.
Woman who says she’s the real Martha from ‘Baby Reindeer’ sues Netflix for defamation
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Woman who says she’s the real Martha from ‘Baby Reindeer’ sues Netflix for defamation
In southeast Pakistan, Ramadan brings Hindus and Muslims closer
MITHI: Partab Shivani, a Hindu in Muslim-majority Pakistan, has fasted on and off during Ramadan for years, but this time is different as he practices abstinence for the entire holy month.
Every year, he and his friends in the southeastern city of Mithi arrange iftar, when Muslims break their daily fast, to foster peace and solidarity between the two religions.
“I believe we need to promote interfaith harmony. First, we are humans — religions came later,” Shivani, a 48-year-old social activist, told AFP, adding that he also reads the teachings of the Buddha.
“His message is about peace and ending war. Peace can spread through solidarity and by standing with one another. Distance only widens the gap between people,” he added.
Ninety-six percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people are Muslim. Just two percent are Hindu, most of them living in rural areas of Sindh province where Mithi is located.
In Mithi itself, most of the 60,000 inhabitants are Hindu.
Many of the city’s Hindus also observe Ramadan and iftar has become a social gathering where people from both faiths happily participate.
“This has been a wonderful tradition of ours for a very long time,” said Mir Muhammad Buledi, a 51-year-old Muslim friend who attended Shivani’s iftar gathering.
“It is a beautiful example of harmony between the two communities.”
Like brothers
Discrimination against minorities runs deep in Pakistan.
Following the end of British rule in South Asia in 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
That triggered widespread religious bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, freedom of religion or belief is under constant threat, with religiously motivated violence and discrimination increasing yearly.
State authorities, often using religious unrest for political gain, have failed to address the crisis, the independent non-profit says.
But such tensions are absent in Mithi.
“I am a Hindu but I keep all the fasts during this month,” said Sushil Malani, a local politician. “I feel happy standing with my Muslim brothers.
“We celebrate Eid together as well. This tradition in the region is very old.”
Restaurants and tea stalls are closed across Pakistan during Ramadan.
Ramesh Kumar, a 52-year-old Hindu man who sells sweets and savoury items outside a Muslim shrine, keeps his push cart covered and closed until iftar.
“There is no discrimination among us if someone is Muslim or Hindu. I have been seeing this since my childhood that we all live together like brothers,” he said.
Muslim shrine, Hindu caretaker
Locals say Mithi’s peaceful religious coexistence can be traced to its remote location, emerging from the sand dunes of the Tharparkar desert, which borders the modern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Cows — considered sacred in Hinduism — roam freely in Mithi city, as they do in neighboring India.
At two Sufi Muslim shrines in the middle of the city, Hindu families arrange meals, bringing fruit, meals and juices for their Muslim neighbors to break their fasts.
“We respect Muslims,” said Mohan Lal Malhi, a Hindu caretaker of one of the shrines.
Mohan said his parents and elders taught him to respect people regardless of religion or color, and the traditions pass from one generation to the next.
Local residents said both communities consider their social relationships more important than their religious identity.
“You will see a (Sikh) gurdwara, a mosque, and a shrine standing side by side here,” Mohan said. “The atmosphere of this area teaches humanity.”
