EXCLUSIVE: Baby Reindeer‘s real-life Martha appears to be making good on her promise to sue Netflix, but is yet to hear from the streamer despite being identified against her wishes and claiming to have received death threats and unwanted attention.
Chris Daw KC, a barrister working with Fiona Harvey to build a lawsuit, told Deadline that Netflix had failed to contact her in any capacity after she was thrust into the media spotlight last month.
He said the series, which has amassed more than 65M views since premiering, raised serious questions about Netflix’s duty of care standards. He called for a “major review” of its compliance procedures.
Daw is assembling a team of lawyers in the UK and U.S. to pursue Netflix, producer Clerkenwell Films, and Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd, but is yet to be formally instructed by Harvey.
He believes that Harvey may have a case for defamation after Baby Reindeer was billed as a “true story” and featured her pleading guilty to stalking and being sentenced to prison.
Daw said he is yet to see evidence that Harvey has been convicted of stalking and harassment, adding that Netflix had failed to back up the claims made in Gadd’s hit series.
“Portraying someone as a convicted criminal who has done time in prison, when that is not true, is a pretty clearcut case of defamation, as it is bound to cause serious harm to that person’s reputation,” he said.
Daw added that Harvey may also have a claim for misuse of image rights. “There are strict laws on the use of a person’s image for commercial gain, particularly in the U.S., which do not seem to have been considered,” he said.
Daw declined to comment on how his legal work is being funded.
Netflix is not responding to inquiries relating to Baby Reindeer. Netflix’s UK policy chief Benjamin King was asked about the series last week during a committee hearing in British Parliament. He stood by the fact that it was a “true story” and said Netflix took “every reasonable precaution” to protect identities.
Senior sources in the UK television industry have scoffed at this notion. A former high-ranking BBC executive, who has experience in compliance procedures on factual dramas, said Netflix should have changed details including Martha’s profession and her nationality.
In an interview with Piers Morgan last week, Harvey described Baby Reindeer as a “work of fiction” and denied stalking allegations. She revealed that Netflix did not contact her before Baby Reindeer debuted and said that the show had exposed her to death threats and phone calls from strangers.
“I find it quite obscene. I find it horrifying, misogynistic,” she said. “Some of the death threats have been really terrible online. People phoning me up. You know, it’s been absolutely horrendous.”
