In her complaint filed on Thursday, June 6, Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey accused Netflix of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
- June 7, 2024
AceShowbiz - Fiona Harvey, who is allegedly the real-life Martha on Netflix's series "Baby Reindeer", wasn't joking about her plan to sue Netflix. Nearly one month after calling it out over her portrayal on the series, the Scottish lawyer filed a $170 million lawsuit against the streaming service.
In her complaint filed on Thursday, June 6, Fiona accused Netflix of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. She also slammed the streaming giant and creator Richard Gadd for making it easy for people to find her identity and "destroying" her livelihood.
Per the legal docs, Fiona is seeking $50 million in actual damages from Netflix, at least $50 million in compensatory damages due to "mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of business," and at least $50 million "for all profits from Baby Reindeer." She is also asking for at least $20 million in punitive damages. Those totals exclude "legal fees, costs and statutory interest."
" 'This is a true story.' - Baby Reindeer, Episode 1. The above quote from the first episode of the Netflix series, Baby Reindeer, is the biggest lie in television history," the lawsuit began. "It is a lie told by Netflix and the show's creator, Richard Gadd, out of greed and lust for fame; a lie designed to attract more viewers, get more attention, to make more money, and to viciously destroy the life of Plaintiff, Fiona Harvey - an innocent woman defamed by Netflix and Richard Gadd at a magnitude and scale without precedent."
"Netflix, a multi-national billion dollar entertainment streaming company did literally nothing to confirm the 'true story' that Gadd told," it continued to read. "That is, it never investigated whether Harvey was convicted, a very serious misrepresentation of the facts. It did nothing to understand the relationship between Gadd and Harvey, if any. It did nothing to determine whether other facts, including an assault, the alleged stalking or the conviction was accurate."
Meanwhile, in a statement to PEOPLE, Fiona's lawyers said, "The Complaint is self-explanatory." They went on to argue, "Netflix destroyed a woman, claiming, among many allegations, that she was a convicted woman. It never contacted her. It never checked the facts. It never made any effort to understand the truth of its 'true story!' "