A judge ruled Friday that the Netflix show “ Baby Reindeer ” did not live up to its billing as a “true story,” allowing the real-life “Martha” to pursue her defamation lawsuit. The woman, Fiona Harvey , alleged that the series, created by Richard Gadd, falsely implied that she sexually assaulted Gadd and gouged his eyes, and had been sent to prison for stalking him. Netflix filed a motion to throw out the suit in July.
In his defense, Gadd revealed that Harvey had stalked him for years when he worked at a London pub, would sometimes pinch his buttocks, and had sent him thousands of disturbing emails and voicemail messages. He ultimately reported her to the police and got a “harassment warning” — though she was not criminally prosecuted or sent to jail. In his ruling on Friday , Judge Gary Klausner noted that the series opens with the line “This is a true story,” inviting the viewer to take what follows as fact.
But he found that Martha’s behavior on the show is significantly worse than what Harvey is accused of in real life. “There is a major difference between stalking and being convicted of stalking in a court of law,” the judge wrote. “Likewise, there are major differences between inappropriate touching and sexual assault, as well as between shoving and gouging another’s eyes.
While plaintiff’s purported actions are reprehensible, Defendants’ statements are of a worse degree and could produce a different effect in the mind of a viewer.�.
