Woman Who Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’ Is Based On Speaks Out
The real-life stalker who is portrayed in Netflix‘s Baby Reindeer is speaking out about how she’s been treated since the show was released. She says that she is extremely unhappy with how the show made her look and she’s considering taking legal action. Keep reading to find out what she has said since coming forth.
Real-Life Baby Reindeer Stalker Received Death Threats
The woman, who is played by Jessica Gunning in the Netflix series, gave her opinions on the show. Baby Reindeer is allegedly based on the real-life experiences of the show’s creator, Richard Gadd.
Although there were no real-life names used in Baby Reindeer, the woman on whom the character Martha is based has been receiving “death threats and abuse from Richard Gadd supporters.”
“He’s using Baby Reindeer to stalk me now,” she said in an interview with The Daily Mail. She then proceeded to accuse Gadd of “bullying an older woman on television for fame and fortune.”
“I’m the victim. He’s written a bloody show about me,” she said.
Events and other details in the Netflix series were altered to shield the identity of the woman in Baby Reindeer. However, she says that there are a few similarities between herself and Martha that make the connection easy to make. The unnamed woman and Martha are both Scottish. They both studied law and have a history of stalking. Additionally, both women are more than 20 years older than Richard Gadd.
The woman also claimed that the two of them look alike after she “put on four stone during lockdown.” She added, “I’m not actually unattractive.”
While there may be plenty of similarities between the unnamed woman and Martha on Baby Reindeer, there are some key differences as well (which will likely save Gadd in any lawsuit). The season finale finally explained why Martha started calling Donny, who is meant to portray Gadd, “baby reindeer.” Martha tells him that he resembles a stuffed toy that she loved growing up. The real-life woman said that she hasn’t ever owned a toy baby reindeer.
“I wouldn’t have had any conversation with Richard Gadd about a childhood toy either,” she concluded.
Richard Gadd Opens Up About Being Stalked
That being said, there are plenty of similarities in Martha’s behavior to what Gadd actually endured. He says that Martha’s real-life counterpart sent him 41,071 emails, 106 pages of letters, 744 tweets, 350 hours of voicemails, and 46 Facebook messages. All of this occurred over the span of four years.
At the time this happened, Richard Gadd went to the police, but they weren’t interested in helping him. They were skeptical about the claims he was making because the alleged stalker was a woman.
“When a man gets stalked, it can be portrayed in films and television as a sexy thing,” he said. “Like a femme fatale who gradually becomes more sinister. It doesn’t carry as much threat of physical violence, is less common and can be trivialized.”
On Monday, April 22, the comic posted to his Instagram Story asking fans and Baby Reindeer viewers not to speculate about the identities of the abusers in the series. In addition to Martha, Gadd also included a TV writer who sexually assaulted him in the Netflix series.
“Hi Everyone, People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation,” he wrote. “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard x X.”
Even though he has made efforts to hide her identity, Gadd’s real-life stalker has said that she is considering taking legal action. The woman said that the comic has “main character syndrome.”
You can stream Baby Reindeer on Netflix.
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