Woman who inspired the stalker in “Baby Reindeer” tells her version of the story – Series

It’s all a lie and the real obsessed person is Richard Gadd, claims the woman who appeared in an interview with Piers Morgan as the real ‘Martha’, the stalker in “Baby Reindeer”.

Based on the award-winning solo play that won the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, the eight-episode Netflix miniseries has become a popular and viral phenomenon since its release on April 11: the story, inspired by true events, follows the hard-working comedian Donny Dunn (Gadd) in his distorted relationship with Martha (Jessica Gunning), a stalker and the impact this connection has on him as it ends up forcing him to face repressed trauma.

During the program “Piers Morgan Uncensored”, broadcast on Thursday night on YouTube, 58-year-old Scottish woman Fiona Harvey, who presents herself as a lawyer, confirmed that the series is based on her, but denies having loved, pursued and sexually assaulted the comedian, attacked his former girlfriend or contacted his parents.

WATCH THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW.

Despite its global success, Harvey says she avoided watching “Baby Reindeer”, but still described it as an ‘obscene’ and ‘defamatory’ work of fiction and that she found herself “forced” to tell her side of the story after receiving threats from death of the ‘Internet detectives’ who discovered his identity.

Accusing him and Netflix of lying, she repeatedly denied having been arrested or persecuted Gadd for years with 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voicemail messages, 744 tweets, 48 ​​Facebook messages and 106 letters, guaranteeing that she was prepared by going to court to defend himself against a work that he describes as “a work of fiction, a work of hyperbole”.

Evasive in several answers and vague on details despite saying she has a ‘photographic memory’, she admitted to having four cell phones and six email addresses, but says she probably sent the comedian ‘less than ten emails’, ‘a letter’ and perhaps ‘ about 18 tweets’.

“There are two true facts in that [programa]: His name is Richard Gadd and he works as a barman at the Hawley Arms,” he said.

Asked what she would like to say to Gadd, she replied: ‘Please leave me alone, get a life, a real job, I’m horrified by what you’ve done.’

“Honestly, it’s all a mess”

Since its broadcast on Thursday, the interview, recorded two days earlier, has generated much controversy, with praise for the professionalism of Piers Morgan and his program, but also accusations of being ‘profoundly irresponsible’ and taking advantage of Harvey, who several viewers on social media say showed the signs of ‘delusional disturbance’ portrayed in “Baby Reindeer.”

Boasting about the four million who have seen the interview so far, Morgan promised to return to the topic on his program this Friday, giving his opinion on whether the lawyer told the truth and with guests reacting to the statements.

But in an article published in The Sun at the same time as the interview began on Thursday, the journalist and commentator says that there are details, such as the fact that she has never been charged or convicted of any crime, that point to “a spectacular failure in duty of care on the part of Netflix, Gadd and Clerkenwell Films, which produced the series, which I think carries serious legal risks.”

“Of course, none of this means that Fiona Harvey told me the truth. I found her intelligent, quick-witted and combative. And on a human level, I felt sorry for her for being dragged publicly through the shredder like that,” he wrote.

He added that general behavior in front of or behind the camera did not give him or his team “any cause for concern about his potential danger or his mental state, although it must be said that stalkers can be very convincing in their ability to to hide their true personalities or obsessive intentions.”

“But there were moments in the interview when my distrust alarms sounded loud, especially when she suddenly said ‘Even if the email thing was true, the rest isn’t.’ The ’email thing’ is the 41 thousand emails that she is said to have sent to Gadd. And if that is true, then it suggests that she was obsessively looking for contact with him. I also found it very strange that she admitted to having up to six email addresses and four cell phones that she had. ‘I used it for different people’. This is not normal”, he notes.

He adds: “She also made a series of blanket denials about how long she had known Gadd and the extent to which she had contact with him that are demonstrably false. The claim that she only sent him a letter, when he says he is 105, seems quite false.”

“Overall, I would say that Fiona Harvey lied to me a lot in the interview and if her threat of legal action against Netflix and Gadd goes forward, I suspect it will quickly come out that she sent her every email, message and letter,” it says.

“But that doesn’t mean she can’t also be a victim here. Gadd, by his own admission, is a very disturbed guy who took a lot of drugs, enthusiastically pursued a chaotic and sinister sex life, and dealt with Martha in a way which may have fueled his obsession”, he said, recalling that his professional conduct was also called into question for allegedly making romantic advances towards transgender actresses who auditioned to get work on the series.

“Honestly, it’s all a mess,” he concluded.