Deluded Baby Reindeer sleuths claim characters are based on them – but I’ve never met them before, blasts Richard Gadd
RICHARD Gadd has blasted deluded Baby Reindeer sleuths who claim characters are based on people he’s never met before.
Internet sleuths were quick to track down Fiona Harvey and identify her as the inspiration behind the obsessive stalker after Baby Reindeer launched last month.
But Fiona widely disputed the events depicted in the Netflix mini-series during her bombshell chat with Piers Morgan.
During the interview, the “real-life Martha” from hit show Baby Reindeer told Piers she is taking legal action against Richard Gadd and Netflix.
Fiona, 58, has described Gadd’s account as a “work of fiction” and “hyperbole” and denied being a stalker.
Gadd, speaking before the exclusive with Piers Morgan, said that he didn’t want to talk anymore about speculation swirling around the show’s real life counterparts.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: “I don’t think I’ll ever comment on it ever again.”
The comedian continued: “The Internet’s always going to do its thing. I can’t really comment on that.
“There was a video the other day of someone had sent me of someone claiming to be Teri.
“I’d never met them before in my life. The internet just does this thing and I just have to let it do its thing. And that’s that.”
Gadd also added that he doesn’t agree with internet sleuths.
The comedian said he wants the show to be received and enjoyed as a piece of art.
He continued: “I’m called Donny Dunn. It exists in a sort of fictional realm, even though it’s based on truth, let’s enjoy the world that I’ve created.
“If I wanted the real life people to be found, I would’ve made it a documentary.
“I’ve spoken publicly about how I don’t want people to do it and if I start playing a game of whack-a-mole, then I’m almost adding to it.”
After the program’s release in April, some viewers began trying to find the real people who had inspired events in the series, which is prefaced with the words: “This is a true story”.
Actor, writer and director Sean Foley, a friend of Gadd’s, was forced to contact police after he was falsely accused online of being a rapist.
It comes after Piers Morgan appeared on ITV‘s Lorraine this morning to discuss his bombshell interview with Fiona Harvey which raked in 11 million views.
If you missed the interview you can get the highlights as the action unfolded, plus Piers breaks down the interview for The Sun.
What Fiona claims is true in Baby Reindeer saga
Fiona Harvey – who claims to be the inspiration for the Baby Reindeer character Martha – says there is only a handful of things true in the Netflix show.
The seven-part series, which premiered last month, was written by comedian Richard Gadd and purports to be based on his own personal experiences of being stalked and sexually assaulted.
Gadd, 34, plays a fictionalised version of himself – Donnie Dunn – but Harvey, who was ‘outed’ by internet sleuths within hours of the show being uploaded, is adamant the story is “completely untrue”.
The 58-year-old law graduate said: “It’s a work of hyperbole, as I’ve always said. And there are two true facts in that. His name is Richard Gadd, and he works as a jobbing barman on benefits, in the Hawley Arms. And we met, two or three times…”
On whether she said he looked like a ‘baby reindeer’ toy she had as a child, she added: “I had a toy reindeer and he’d shaved his head, that bit is true, and there were reindeer in the shops because it was Christmas time or something. It was a joke.
“So I have inadvertently penned the name of the show.”
The ex-GMB host said that although he believes Fiona was lying at points, he hasn’t seen any proof that she’s been convicted of stalking as the character Martha was in the show.
Piers told Lorraine today: “She has a right to have her say and was happy to come on the show, I tried to be very fair and balanced and tried to get to the truth.
“I think she lied in the interview but is she a convicted stalker?
“The key point is, if she isn’t, then the Netflix claim at the start of every episode saying ‘this is a true story’ becomes problematic.”
CHILLING TALE
Baby Reindeer has taken the world by storm since its release, with millions tuning in to follow the story of a comedian and his stalker.
Written by and starring comedian Gadd – who plays Donnie Dunn, a fictionalised version of himself – the programme details the alleged ordeal, with Martha played by Jessica Gunning.
In the show, the then-struggling comic, while working in a London bar, hands Martha a free cup of tea before things turn sinister.
The series claims she subsequently bombarded the barman with more than 41,000 emails.
She also sent him hundreds of tweets and hours of voicemails and even camped outside his house for days.
Martha then harasses his parents and ex, and assaults his girlfriend over an alleged four-year campaign of terror.
In Baby Reindeer, the Martha character often signs off her emails as if they were sent from an iPhone – despite being from her laptop – and are misspelt in a variety of ways.
Fiona is alleged to be the inspiration for sinister Martha in Netflix hit Baby Reindeer.
