The internet uncovered the identity of the real-life Martha Scott some weeks ago, but this is the first time the woman who inspired ‘Baby Reindeer’ has revealed herself publicly – giving an interview to the Daily Record where she doesn’t exactly do much to quell allegations of being a deranged stalker.
London-based Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey, 58, wants everyone to know what she’s been through since her identity became public following the success of the Netflix show:
“You have my authority to name me in the Daily Record. I give you my permission to name me because people have to know what is going on.”
The thing Harvey seems most concerned about is setting the record straight on whether she went to jail or not (in the show – spoiler alert – it’s said she was jailed for 4 1/2 years before meeting Richard Gadd AKA Donny Dunn, and is then given 9 months for stalking him):
“I’ve not been to prison. I don’t know where the four -and-a-half years and nine months comes in. None of this happened. It’s a load of rubbish.”
She says she’s planning on suing Gadd and Netflix over their portrayal of her in Baby Reindeer:
“Gadd needs to prove I went to jail which just didn’t happen. I’ve never been sent to jail. That is blatantly obvious.
“Police at your door would be the first thing, then you’d be charged, then you would have a trial. Then you’d be fined or something or go to prison.
“This is all made up and hyperbole. There are no restraining orders, injunctions or interdicts anywhere. There’s just no way. I’ve not had the police at my door about any of these things.
“It’s a load of rubbish. I don’t have any money but I’m a perfectly capable lawyer so I will represent myself.”
Look, we don’t know how much of the show is accurate, but it’s quite interesting that she’s latched on to “I did not go to jail” and there’s no mention or denial of all the other wild stuff she allegedly did – like send Richard Gadd 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages and 106 pages of letters during the period she stalked him.
Hard to see where Fiona Harvey has any legal recourse especially as Netflix’s lawyers will have made sure they were OK on that front before releasing the show. Then again, who knows? The character of Martha Scott does some pretty wild things in the show (aside from the stalking, there’s assault and sexual assault), so I can see how it could be defamatory now that her true identity is the worst kept secret in England and beyond. She does claim to be a lawyer (lol) so I’m sure she’ll have more insight on that than I do.
What’s really mental is that if you see the way Fiona Harvey writes her (very frequent) statuses on Facebook, it’s exactly the same as how Martha Scott writes her e-mails in Baby Reindeer.
According to her more recent updates, she’s got a major TV appearance coming up where she’ll tell her side of the story, and also a book on the horizon. Which is probably a good idea at this point because she may as well milk this thing for all it’s worth and make some £££ out of it. Who knows? It could turn out to be a blessing in disguise and she can then quit the lawyer life for good. Get that bag, Fiona!
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