Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of stalking and harassment. Reader discretion is advised.
Fiona Harvey, the real-life Martha Scott from Netflix’s Baby Reindeer, is a 58-year-old Scottish woman, per The Guardian. Harvey, who is believed to be the inspiration behind Richard Gadd’s popular drama series, has denied allegations that she stalked the actor/comedian. The show is a fictionalized version of events from Gadd’s life. It explores his real-life experience with a stalker in 2015 when he was still in his 20s. In the seven-part series, his stalker’s name is Martha.
Richard Gadd previously claimed he attempted to hide his stalker’s real identity in Baby Reindeer. However, Harvey has alleged that Martha’s character is based on her. Gadd stated that he changed his stalker’s character “to the point that I don’t think she would recognize herself.” While talking to GQ, the comedian said he has only “borrowed an emotional truth, not a fact-by-fact profile of someone.”
According to Variety, Baby Reindeer’s Martha Scott, like Fiona Harvey, who studied law, claimed to be a renowned lawyer. The series depicts similar events that happened in Gadd’s life—his first encounter with Martha and the following stalking and harassment. Martha sends Donny, Gadd’s character in the drama, thousands of emails. People Magazine stated that the comedian allegedly received 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters from the stalker.
However, Harvey claimed otherwise in her recent Piers Morgan Uncensored appearance. In her first public appearance, she sat with the English Broadcaster for an interview, making shocking revelations.
What did Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha Scott, Fiona Harvey, say during Piers Morgan interview?
Fiona Harvey, who claimed to be Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha Scott, denied writing thousands of emails and messages to Richard Gadd. Variety reported that during her Piers Morgan Uncensored interview, Harvey said she “didn’t write him the emails.” She further alleged that Gadd “probably made them up himself, I’ve no idea” and called the hit Netflix drama series “a work of fiction,” per BBC.
The outlet stated that the viewers found Harvey online and linked her to the dramatized series’ Martha. Following this, Harvey spoke out in the Piers Morgan interview, claiming that both Gadd and Netflix are “lying” about it and called the series “obscene” and “defamatory.” She accused them of billing “it as a true story” when “it’s not” and “making money out of my misery.”
During the interview, when Piers Morgan questioned Fiona Harvey about the alleged thousands of emails, she disclosed that there “may have been a couple of emails.” Harvey later added that the email count was probably “less than 10.” As for the letters, tweets, and messages, the 58-year-old agreed to writing one letter and about 18 tweets on X (formerly Twitter). She further denied sending him hundreds of voice messages as she did not have his number.
According to The Guardian, Harvey denied stalking Richard Gadd, attacking his girlfriend, and contacting his parents. These are some of the depictions from Baby Reindeer. However, the Scottish woman agreed to other factors from the series. As the series depicted, she claimed to have met Gadd in a London pub. She said they met “five or six” and were not friends. Per her narrative, they only knew each other for two to three months.
Later, Harvey mentioned jokingly talking to Gadd about a baby reindeer toy she had growing up and how he reminded her of the said toy. Gadd has previously claimed that Baby Reindeer was the pet name that Martha gave him. This name was the inspiration behind the title of the series. She also denied sitting outside the comedian’s house to stalk him.
Deadline further said that Fiona Harvey was “forced” into giving the Piers Morgan interview. She said she wanted to tell the world her side of the story and claimed she was up for a legal battle. Harvey revealed that after viewers identified her as Baby Reindeer’s Martha, she received death threats and phone calls. Other depictions that she said were untrue included her smashing up a bar or getting convicted for stalking.
Talking about the series, Harvey said that the depiction is “quite obscene” and “horrifying” as well as “misogynistic.” She added that “some of the death threats have been really terrible online. People phoning me up. You know, it’s been absolutely horrendous.” She also blamed Netflix for not contacting her before the Baby Reindeer global premiere.
On behalf of the streaming service giant, policy chief Benjamin King and producer Clerkenwell Films were the first to comment on the situation during a UK parliament hearing. They claimed to have taken “every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story.” During the interview, Piers Morgan called Netflix and Richard Gadd’s attempts to hide Martha’s true identity “a spectacular failure,” per Variety.
Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha Scott, Fiona Harvey, was reportedly identified within days of the drama series’ premiere. The seven-part series is now streaming on Netflix.
