Richard Gadd Investigated By Producers Over Dating Trans Actress Who Auditioned For Baby Reindeer

Baby Reinder creator/writer/star Richard Gadd is facing some backlash after he chatted up a trans woman at a bar, convinced her to audition for the show, dated her for a bit, and then dumped her after the role of Donny’s (Gadd) partner Teri went to trans actress Nava Mau.

Obviously there’s nothing illegal about dating/shagging a consenting partner just because they’re auditioning for your TV show, but it seems to have rubbed people up the wrong way because a large part of Baby Reindeer is about Gadd’s own real-life experiences being manipulated and molested by a TV producer who had promised him fame and fortune.

Five days after Baby Reindeer was released, transgender actress Reece Lyons posted a thread on X, where she did not mention Gadd or the show directly, but Deadline has since confirmed the identity. It’s a pretty long thread so I’ll just copy some key points:

Oof – loses the role and gets dumped in the same phone call. Harsh! At this point you may expect Reece Lyons to wage a Richard Gadd cancellation campaigh, but she was actually very mature and honest about the whole thing:

She also shared some parting advice for any young actor who find themselves in a similar spot:

Wise words indeed.

It’s important to note that Baby Reindeer producer Clerkenwell Films have cleared Richard Gadd of any wrongdoing or professional conduct after investigating the situation, which is in no small part thanks to the way Reece Lyons handled the situation.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t sound like he coerced Lyons or made any promises about the role, he just hooked her up with an audition while also making it clear that he fancied her. That’s not a crime, is it?