The lawyer suing Netflix over Baby Reindeer has seized on a report in the UK alleging that the streaming giant pushed Richard Gadd into branding the series a true story.
The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Netflix requested the opening line “this is a true story,” despite some misgivings from Gadd, who wrote and starred in the series.
Richard Roth, the attorney representing Fiona Harvey, the real-life Martha, said the accusation suggested that Netflix’s actions over Baby Reindeer went beyond negligence.
“This is far worse than negligence, this is intentional misconduct if they were told, ‘Don’t make it a true story.’ And they said it was true,” Roth told Piers Morgan Uncensored. “They are going to have to show that they have the facts to support their claim.”
Deadline has contacted Netflix for comment. The streaming giant has previously said it will mount a vigorous defense against Harvey’s $170M defamation lawsuit. So far, it has not produced evidence to support the claim made in the series that Martha is a convicted stalker.
Roth said he would expect Gadd to testify if the legal proceedings go to court. He added that they are pursuing the lawsuit in California to prevent Netflix from making “procedural” legal arguments if the claim was heard in the UK, where Baby Reindeer was filmed and commissioned.
He acknowledged that $170M in damages was a large figure, but it was based on Baby Reindeer becoming one of Netflix’s most-watched series. “They are pumping this story and they are making oodles of money from it,” Roth said.
The lawyer added that Harvey has been “shattered” by her experience, to the point where she is “afraid to go out and get groceries.” Roth said she had received death threats.
Baby Reindeer, which launched on April 11 and is produced by Clerkenwell Films, is the raw account of Gadd’s frustrated comedian character’s experience with an alleged stalker. Jessica Gunning stars as that alleged stalker, Martha, who the world learned is Harvey, a Scottish lawyer.
A Netflix spokesperson said: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”