A federal court has moved forward with a major defamation claim in a lawsuit against Netflix. The case involves a woman who was shown as a stalker in Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer. However, the court dropped other parts of the lawsuit.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled that Netflix might have defamed Fiona Harvey, who inspired the character Martha, played by Jessica Gunning. In the show, Martha is portrayed as a stalker with two convictions and a five-year prison sentence for sexual assault. The court said Netflix could have harmed Harvey by saying the series was “based on a true story,” even though Richard Gadd had concerns about including that disclaimer.
“This shows Netflix may not have cared if the statements in the series were true or not,” the order said.
Baby Reindeer tells the story of Donny Dunn, a comedian played by Richard Gadd, who meets Martha at the bar where he works. Martha is shown as a dangerous stalker who harasses him for years. She sends him over 41,000 emails, 744 tweets, 100 pages of letters, and 350 hours of voicemails.
In June, Fiona Harvey sued Netflix in a California federal court, asking for at least $170 million. She also wants the money Netflix made from the series.
Netflix tried to get the lawsuit dismissed using California’s anti-SLAPP law, which helps stop lawsuits that might silence free speech. However, the court said Fiona Harvey could likely win her defamation claim.
The court dismissed claims for negligence, right of publicity, and punitive damages, but allowed the claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress to move forward.
The series shows Martha as a criminal who spent five years in jail for stalking Richard Gadd and another woman. It also shows her stalking a policeman and sexually assaulting Gadd. Fiona Harvey, whose real name wasn’t used in the show, claims she has never been convicted of any crime.
The lawsuit says Netflix “did nothing” to check if the statements about Harvey in the series, which is said to be a true story, were accurate.
Source: THR
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