The “Baby Reindeer” defamation suit has been reopened after a year on ice. Fiona Harvey, who claims she is the inspiration for Martha from the Netflix series, filed an amended complaint to her suit this week.
The defamation case was expected to go to trial in May 2025, but an appeal by Netflix put a halt to proceedings at the Central District of California Court. Harvey has since narrowed the lawsuit by expanding the factual allegations against Netflix.
The amended complaint is also 20 pages longer and adds information that emerged after the original suit was filed in June 2024. Netflix claimed that her initial complaint failed to allege a provably false statement of fact was made about her.
The First Amended Complaint filed by Harvey against Netflix on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, expands on her claims that the streamer falsely portrayed her as the real-life inspiration for Martha, the stalker character played by Jessica Gunning in the hit series.
Harvey argues that Netflix marketed “Baby Reindeer” as a true story while knowingly including fabricated events and criminal allegations about her.
The former lawyer from Scotland cited specific scenes that she claimed were false that she was convicted of stalking and sentenced to prison, she sexually assaulted the comedian, she physically assaulted the comedian with a glass, she waited outside his home upwards of 16 hours a day and that she stalked a police officer.
While the Netflix series showed that the character Martha was convicted of stalking twice, she noted that she was never charged for stalking the series creator Richard Gadd. Harvey argued in her complaint that Netflix promoted the series as a true story, despite the fact that she was never convicted.
She is seeking more than $50 million in actual damages, more than $50 million in compensatory damages, including for mental anguish and lost business, and more than $50 million in profits from “Baby Reindeer.” She also seeks punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and interest. The complaint requests a jury trial.
Representatives for Netflix did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Following Netflix’s appeal attempt, a judge opened the door for the trial to continue. Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled that the award-winning limited series “appears to present itself as fact” rather than star and creator Gadd’s interpretation. Klausner said “despite using fictional names for its characters, the Series is heavily based on reality” and that the show opens with “this is based on a true story” means Netflix can’t dismiss the lawsuit.
“Baby Reindeer” was a critics and audience favorite at Netflix. The series won six Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited Series. The series premiered in April 2024 and has amassed 103 million views since its debut.
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