Claiming that your film or television show was “inspired by” or “based on a true story” has always been a bit of a double-edged sword.
While those shows are typically enthralling, given that these films must fudge some details of the real events to tell a compelling story, such media has always been ripe for criticism — or even lawsuits.
And if that film or television show becomes incredibly popular, then you could almost consider the lawsuits inevitable.
Such has been the case with the hit British black comedy, “Baby Reindeer,” streaming on Netflix.
Telling a fictionalized version of star comedian Richard Gadd’s early career, the show follows Donny (played by Gadd) and his issues with a woman he met at a pub, Martha (portrayed by Jessica Gunning), as well as the TV writer who mentored him.
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The story takes a dark turn quickly, with Donny being abused by his mentor and stalked by Martha — a depiction the “real” Martha has greatly objected to.
According to a report in Fox News, Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey has claimed she was the inspiration for Martha. Due to the unflattering portrayal, Harvey is suing Netflix and the show’s creators to the tune of a whopping $170 million in a California court.
Quoting the opening line of the opening episode, “this is a true story,” the lawsuit claimed that that line was “the biggest lie in television history,” and a lie told “out of greed and lust for fame; a lie designed to attract more viewers, get more attention, to make more money, and to viciously destroy the life of Plaintiff, Fiona Harvey â an innocent woman defamed by Netflix and Richard Gadd at a magnitude and scale without precedent.”
The complaint alleges that the depiction of Harvey made her out to be an unstable stalker who sexually assaulted Gadd’s character, which ruined her life and her reputation.
Is there a legitimate case for defamation here?
Time magazine reported, however, that Gadd and Netflix always maintained that they went to painstaking lengths to disguise Harvey’s identity in the show.
Gadd claimed that they had “gone to such great lengths to disguise her to the point that I donât think she would recognize herself,” while the complaint, conversely, contended that such identification was remarkably easy.
Indeed, viewers were able to use lines from the show to associate Harvey with Martha on the social media platform X, inundating her with messages asking her if she was the “real” Martha.
Granted, Time did note that some aspects of Harvey’s story have not been wholly consistent, and she was accused back in the 2000s of stalking lawyer and widow of a former politician, Laura Wray.
Though the news of Harvey’s defamation suit only became public on Thursday, Deadline reported that Netflix had already released a statement later that same day.
The statement read “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gaddâs right to tell his story,” with no plans for further action detailed at this time.
Now, the truth of what Gadd depicted in his show and what Harvey has claimed in her lawsuit have yet to be proven.
Harvey could be telling the truth, that her depiction as a crazy stalker with a jail record was completely false, or perhaps there were some grains of truth in the character of Martha in the show after all. The legal process will be tasked to unravel all of that.
Regardless, though the the format for entertainment and television has changed drastically over the past decade, the same problems and pitfalls with depicting allegedly “true stories” remains.
Is there one day going to be a Netflix drama series about the Baby Reindeer lawsuit? https://t.co/AiVtHdgkAn
â Ian Leslie (@mrianleslie) June 7, 2024
After all, the reason many films contain the disclaimer “This motion picture is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental,” was thanks to a libel suit brought against the 1932 film “Rasputin and the Empress” by Romanov survivors.
If your film or tv show has depicted real people, and those real people or their family were still alive, you must exercise the utmost care in your depiction of them.
Otherwise, you might end up owing them exorbitant amounts of money while your own reputation is tarnished.
