The alleged 'real-life' Martha from Baby Reindeer has spoken out about how she's the real "victim" of the show, and not the creator.
Hitting screens on April 11, Baby Reindeer follows the story of a wannabe comedian whose random act of kindness leaves him a victim to a female stalker who will stop at nothing to fuel her obsession for him.
Check out the trailer below:While the series displays some pretty frightening acts of violence, perhaps the scariest aspect is finding out that it's based on the creator's real-life experiences.
Richard Gadd, who also stars in the show as Donny Dunn, recalls his trauma through seven emotional episodes -- though, he told Variety that certain aspects (such as the names of characters, as well as some scenes) have been enhanced to be "visually interesting".
He also stated that - for legal reasons - he tried his best to keep the identities of the real-life characters a complete mystery in the hopes that it wouldn't distract from the impact of the show.
However, that hasn't been entirely possible due to internet sleuths, who have started a wild witch-hunt looking for the real-life people who inspired the characters on the show.
And one woman has now spoken out about how her life has changed due to the impact of the show.
Speaking to The Daily Record, a 58-year-old Scottish woman - who has a law degree just like 'Martha' - referred to herself as the real "victim".
"I’m the victim here, not Richard Gadd," she told the outlet. "I’ve had death threats as a result of his show despite the fact that a lot of the things he claimed are just not true."
She continued: “Someone online said, ‘If I find you I will kill you’."
As a result of the threats, she revealed that she's been struggling to sleep over fears that fans of the show may actually take action.
Elsewhere in the interview, she claimed that she was never that close with Gadd - explaining that she had only seen him a handful of times and had never slept with him.
And in an interview with the Scottish Sun, a woman who claims to be the real-life Martha (it is unclear if it is the same woman as the previous interview) expressed her disapproval of Jessica Gunning being cast in the role.
Describing Gunning as a "fat actress", she said: "I am very attractive. [Gadd] is not Brad Pitt."
The Aberdeen University law graduate then told The Scottish Sun that she plans on suing Netflix and will represent herself in any legal proceedings against the streaming giant.
Last week, Gadd was forced to shut down rumors that have fuelled a lot of hate online.
In a message posted to 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..."
In an interview with Glamour, Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha in Baby Reindeer also spoke out about all the speculation, stating that it was a "real shame" that people were more focused on exposing the real-life person rather than the true message of the series.
“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.
“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," she added.
She also urged people to give the show another watch if they didn't understand it properly.
“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.”
Baby Reindeer is available to watch on Netflix now.
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