Netflix Concedes That Real-Life “Baby Reindeer” Stalker Martha Wasn't Convicted of Stalking

Fiona Harvey, whom 'Baby Reindeer' character Martha is based upon, sued the streamer for defamation in June

Netflix has acknowledged that Fiona Harvey, whom the streamer's Baby Reindeer was based upon, has never been convicted as a stalker in an ongoing lawsuit.

In a letter sent to the British Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the streaming giant recognized that Harvey was never legally recognized as a stalker after advertising the Richard Gadd-led hit series as "a true story," per Deadline.

According to the outlet, the admission comes after Netflix’s senior UK director of public policy, Benjamin King, appeared before the committee in May and claimed that Baby Reindeer was a “true story of the horrific abuse” that Gadd suffered “at the hands of a convicted stalker.”

Related: Baby Reindeer's Real Life Martha Slams Richard Gadd's Netflix Show as 'Complete Nonsense' in Piers Morgan Interview

After the committee asked the streamer to provide evidence of Harvey's reported conviction, King submitted a letter to clear up his statement.

“I wanted to clarify our understanding that the person on whom the show is based — who we have at no point sought to identify — was subject to a court order rather than a conviction," King wrote in the letter, per Deadline.

“The writer of Baby Reindeer endured serious harassment over many months (as it now seems has been the case for many others), which had a significant impact on his wellbeing," he concluded.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, a Netflix spokesperson wrote, "The letter was sent to the DCMS Select Committee on 23 May, well before any legal case was filed, and has been publicly available since. It does not impact our legal position."

Harvey's attorney also sent a statement to PEOPLE, saying: "It is nothing short of remarkable that Netflix sent a formal letter to Parliament informing it that Baby Reindeer was based on Fiona Harvey and yet Gadd stated, in a sworn affidavit under oath submitted by Netflix to the United States Court that 'I did not write the Series as a representation of actual facts about any real person, including Fiona Harvey.' In the end, it appears that either Netflix submitted a false letter to Parliament or a false declaration to a US District Court. Its conduct is reprehensible."

Related: Baby Reindeer's Richard Gadd Explains Why He Didn't See His Stalker as 'Someone Who Was a Villain'

Released on Netflix in April 2024, Baby Reindeer was based on the alleged real life events that happened in Gadd's life. In the show, Gadd’s character Donny meets the woman, Martha [based on Harvey], as he’s working at a bar, and she strikes up a conversation with him.

She went on to obtain his email and stalked him for four years, calling him “Baby Reindeer.” Over the course of that time, Gadd allegedly received 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages and 106 pages of letters from her.

In June, Harvey sued Netflix for more than $170 million and claimed that the portrayal of the obsessive stalker Martha in the hit show was defamatory and inaccurate.

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Harvey accused Netflix and Gadd of making it easy for viewers of the limited series to find her identity, effectively "destroying" her livelihood.

Related: Baby Reindeer's Richard Gadd Asks Fans to Not 'Speculate' About Real-Life People Who Inspired the Story

She further claimed that Gadd wrote several exact phrases she had said to him in the episodes and gave Martha her same job — a lawyer. Harvey also alleged that her reputation has been damaged and has faced harassment for her portrayal. Additionally, she vehemently denied sexually assaulting Gadd and being a convicted stalker, both of which are central storylines in the limited series.

In response to her filing, Gadd issued a 20-page declaration to support Netflix’s request to have Harvey's defamation lawsuit thrown out.

“While the Series is my emotionally true story as I recall and recount, it is not intended to depict any real persons,” he wrote in documents obtained by PEOPLE on July 31. “Instead, I created fictionalized characters, including Martha and Donny, which were foils to aid my exploration of my own experiences and trauma. I intentionally used characters that did not share the actual names of any persons from my life and wrote fictionalized dialogue and scenes.”

Gadd continued, “Each of the characters from the Series has some imagined personality traits and events that I specifically selected to make them useful as dramatic devices.”

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He also stated that Harvey was the one who “identified herself to the press as Martha,” as he never made a connection between the fictional character and his real-life stalker.

Upon the show's release in April, the actor also previously asked fans not to "speculate" on the real life people the show was based on in a statement shared to his Instagram Stories.

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