After an explosive interview with Piers Morgan last night, the 'real-life' Martha from Baby Reindeer has given her side of the story.
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.
See the trailer below:While the creator of the show, Richard Gadd, tried his best to keep the identities of his characters carefully under wraps, it seems as though the constant hounding by internet folks has uncovered the real-life Martha and she's now given her side of the story.
In a new interview with Piers Morgan on his show Piers Morgan Uncensored, Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey denied the claims made against her because of the show and made some pretty big counter-revelations.
Here they are summed up in five points.
When Morgan questioned whether or not she had given the show a watch like millions of others around the world, she confirmed that she had not.
“Not at all. I’ve heard about the court scene, about the jail sentences, and all this sort of stuff... I haven’t watched any of it," she confirmed.
Harvey denied ever going to prison over stalking allegations.“It is completely untrue and very career-damaging," she told the interviewer. "I want to rebut that. I’m not a stalker. It’s just complete nonsense.”
She also went on to state that she did not send the creator 40,000 emails as was claimed by the Netflix show.
“I think he probably made them up himself,” Harvey alleged, instead suggesting she sent him just “a handful”.
When prompted for an exact number, she confirmed that it had to be under 10.
She named herself the victim of the ordeal, not Gadd.When talking about the fallout of the show, she opened up about how she has been harassed by a bunch of strangers online claiming to know her because of Baby Reindeer.
“It’s taken over enough of my life,” she said. “I find it quite obscene. I find it horrifying [and] misogynistic. Some of the death threats have been really terrible online. People phoning me up. You know, it’s been absolutely horrendous.”
Others have also been attacked online including writer and producer Sean Foley. Things had gotten so out of control that Foley had reported the harassment to the police, who have now launched an investigation into the threats he's allegedly receiving.
In the wake of the drama, Gadd was also forced to speak out.
In a message posted to his Instagram, the 34-year-old stated that Foley was 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.”
She confessed to giving Gadd the same nickname as in the show.“I had a toy reindeer and he’d shaved his head, that bit is true, and there were reindeers in the shops because it was Christmas time or something," she admitted before confirming that "It was a joke. So I have inadvertently penned the name of the show.”
She revealed that she is now in the process of suing the creator of the show as well as Netflix.“I will be taking legal action against Richard Gadd and Netflix," she said in the interview. "We have instructed lawyers in part, but we want to explore all of the options out there. There are a number of people to sue.”
Later on, when asked if she had a message for Gadd if he was watching, she said: “Leave me alone, please. Get a life, get a proper job. I am horrified at what you’ve done.”
While Morgan has received criticism from a handful of people including mental health organizations who have slammed the interview as "irresponsible", millions of people have watched it and started talking about it on social media.
"Mentally unwell stalker that’s been depicted on a Netflix show being interviewed by Piers Morgan in real time is one of the most west dystopian unethical black mirroresque things I’ve ever witnessed you know #PiersMorgan," wrote one user, while another added: "This Piers Morgan/Fiona Harvey interview is horrible and exploitative and f****** incredible viewing I’m hooked."
A third also stated: "richard gadd was brave enough to share his story and make a Netflix series about being stalked and assaulted. all for the internet to find the stalker and piers f**king morgan to interview her about 'her side'! richard deserves the biggest apology."
There's a lot to unpack here, but we hope that everyone involved manages to get the help they need after having to re-live their trauma once again.
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