You say this woman is stocking you?
Yeah, like, six months maybe.
Why'd it take you so long to report it?
Think she needs help? She comes to my work,
my house. She sends me emails,
like, all the time. Or any threatening towards y'all.
Yeah.
I wouldn't say this particularly threatening.
All right. A woman is suing Netflix for
$170 million, claiming she was defamed by the hit show.
Baby Reindeer. Tells the story of a comedian who is
terrorised
by a woman stalker named Martha,
and it's supposed to be based on a true story.
Now, a Scottish woman named Fiona Harvey has filed a
lawsuit saying that after the show aired,
she began receiving threatening messages from people who think Martha
is based on her.
She accuses Netflix of telling the quote biggest lie in
television history
and claims she is suffering mental anguish and loss of
business as a result of this series.
CNN Business writer Claire Duffy is tracking this story for
us.
So, Claire, just to sort of catch up our viewers,
for those who haven't watched Baby Reindeer,
it portrays this woman Martha as this stalker who is
constantly outside
Donnie's home. She has committed physical assault,
sexual assault and obviously not a great way to be
portrayed by anyone.
And the real life character who believes that Martha is
based on her,
Fiona Harvey, she is now suing.
Just walk our audience through it.
Yeah, that's right, Zayn. This show,
Baby Reindeer, which Richard Gad said was based on his
real experience being stalked,
has been one of the biggest hits on Netflix since
it debuted in April.
And there is a slate at the start of the
show that tells viewers this is a true story.
But this woman, Fiona Harvey,
says that that is untrue.
She says that she was tracked down by TikTok and
Reddit users who
identified her as the alleged stalker portrayed in this show.
And she said she's now is fearful to leave her
home.
She's filed this $170 million lawsuit against Netflix as well
as comedian Richard Gad.
And she claims that they misrepresented her quote out of
greed and lust and to make money.
She says that Netflix never made any effort to confirm
any of the purported facts in this show.
And in particular, she takes issue with the fact that
in the show,
she is portrayed as having been convicted,
you know, sent to prison for this alleged stalking.
And in real life, she says she has never been
convicted of any crime.
Netflix, for its part, says that it will be vigorously
defending against this lawsuit and says that it wanted to
protect Richard Gad's right to tell his story.
So we'll have to see how this one plays out,
Zane.
And just in terms of what Richard Gad has actually
said about this,
I mean, he's the creator.
He's the main star of the show.
Has he come out and said anything?
Yeah. He did tell the Guardian that this story was,
quote, very emotionally true, but that he wanted it to
exist in the sphere of art and to protect the
people portrayed in the show.
So kind of an interesting response there that could potentially
support Fiona Harvey's allegations that he took some creative freedoms
with her story here.
All right, Claire Duffy, life first death.
We'll see what happens. We'll see if she gets the
money she's looking for.
Thank you so much.