Richard Gadd has spoken out about the controversy surrounding his Netflix series Baby Reindeer . The comedian, 35, plays a fictionalised version of himself in the show, who gets stalked by a lonely and mentally ill woman called Martha, played by Jessica Gunning. Following the show’s release, the “real life” Martha, Fiona Harvey, was found by viewers on social media and is suing Netflix for $50m (£39m) for a litany of charges including defamation and emotional distress.
Although Gadd vocally discouraged viewers from seeking out the real life inspiration for Baby Reindeer characters online at the time, he and Netflix have been criticised for not making the onscreen characters more distinctive from their true counterparts. Speaking to Deadline , Gadd said of the furore: “I sometimes think to myself that I don’t know why I expected there to be a sphere of respect around [the show] because it was so dark, because it was so personal.” He admitted of the fallout: “There are times where I wobble and I think, ‘God, this is kind of tough,’ but I have to remember that other people are responding to it in the way I intended, and I have to cling onto the positives.
” The comedian added he hoped Baby Reindeer’s legacy would be the “good that it did”, referencing the fact that a male sexual abuse charity saw a staggering 80 per cent increase in first-time callers since the release of the show. Gadd reflected: “The charity stuff, the comments from people who were .