The creator and lead in Netflix's most popular series right now, Baby Reindeer, has taken to social media to plead with viewers issue a plea with fans of the show.
Now, if you've watched the series, which hit the streaming platform on April 11, then you would know why it's a hot talking point online. Check out the trailer for the show below:
Adapted from Richard Gadd’s stage play of the same name - which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019 - Baby Reindeer follows the story of a man who is forced to face his dark, buried trauma after he starts being stalked by a woman.
The drama series consists of seven nail-biting episodes and stars Gadd (playing Donny) as well as the likes of Jessica Gunning (portraying Martha) Nava Mau (playing Terri), Tom Goodman (portraying Darrien), and Shalom Brune-Franklin (who takes on the role of Keeley.)
The scariest part of it all is that it's based on real-life events that happened to Gadd, though for legal reasons, it must be stated that some aspects - such as the names of characters as well as some of the scenes - have been made "visually interesting", as emphasized by Gadd himself during an interview with Variety.
However, some viewers did not seem to understand this, and after watching the show, proceeded to try and hunt down the real-life people that they believed the story was based on.
While we can understand being fuelled by the need for justice for the victim, it does not warrant the harassment of innocent folks who have been carelessly accused of something they have not done just because they may bear some resemblance to the on-screen character.
Earlier this week, Gadd was forced to shut down speculation about the real-life inspirations behind the show’s characters and ask viewers to stop speculating about the people the show is based on.
In a message posted to his Instagram, Gadd named director and writer Sean Foley as someone “unfairly caught up in speculation” following the show’s release.
“People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly caught up in speculation,” he wrote on his Stories on Monday (22 April). “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard x X.”
Foley also took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to state that he had to get the authorities involved due to how serious things were getting.
"Police have been informed and are investigating all defamatory abusive and threatening posts against me," he wrote.
Gunning has also spoken out during a new interview with Glamour, stating that people should not be looking for information on the real-life Martha.
“I didn’t know that was happening,” she began. “I would urge people not to be doing that. I think if that is happening, I think it’s a real, real shame, because it shows that they haven’t watched the show properly."
She continued: “That’s not the point of it in any way. Netflix and Richard [Gadd] went to extreme lengths to try and make sure that the identities were kept private for a reason.”
Gunning also advised people who feel the need to do this to re-watch the seven-part series.
“I think they should try and watch the show again, and really see what the point of it was - it definitely wasn’t that. I deliberately didn’t want to do an impersonation of somebody; I wanted to do an interpretation of this character," she told the outlet.
Baby Reindeer is now streaming on Netflix.
