Gadd's stalker received nine months in prison and a five-year restraining order.
Netflix's Baby Reindeer is based on Richard Gadd's real-life experience of being stalked.
The show has received critical acclaim and all episodes are streaming on Netflix.
Richard Gadd's Netflix series 'Baby Reindeer' is based on his real-life experience of being stalked by an obsessed fan. The show follows the character Donny Dunn, who interacts with his stalker Martha and delves into his past experiences, including being sexually assaulted by a comedy writer he considered his mentor. Gadd first dramatized the events in a solo play also called 'Baby Reindeer,' stating that the skeleton of the story is absolutely true. However, fans have been speculating about the real people behind the characters and spreading defamatory and threatening posts online, leading to investigations by police.
Gadd has not shared the name of his real-life stalker or elaborated on her fate beyond stating that he had mixed feelings about her receiving nine months in prison and a five-year restraining order from contacting him. He has also received over 41,000 emails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters from his stalker who left 350 hours of voicemail messages after getting his phone number.
The show has been a surprise hit for Netflix and has received critical acclaim. All episodes are now streaming on the platform.
Comedian Richard Gadd asks fans to stop speculating about real-life inspirations behind characters in his Netflix show ‘Baby Reindeer’,
Fans have been falsely accusing British actor, writer and director Sean Foley of being the character Darrien who sexually assaults Gadd’s character,
Gadd has previously stated that his show is ‘emotionally 100% true’, but the fictional stalker character Martha is not meant to resemble her real-life counterpart and went to ‘such great lengths to disguise [his stalker] to the point that I don’t think she would recognize herself.’
Fans have been spreading baseless theories online, leading some individuals, including Foley, to receive defamatory and threatening posts. Police have been informed and are investigating.
Gadd has said he’s not worried about his former stalker contacting him in the wake of the Netflix series.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(95%)
The author does not make any explicit fallacious statements in the article. However, there are instances of inflammatory rhetoric used by fans and viewers that could be considered a fallacy if reported as factual by the author. The author is reporting on these instances and their impact, but is not making the fallacious statements herself.
]People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation.[/
Richard Gadd has asked fans to stop speculating about the real-life identities of characters in his Netflix show Baby Reindeer.
Fans have been speculating about the identity of Jessica Gunning’s character in real life, as well as Tom Goodman-Hill’s character who sexually assaults Gadd’s character.
Gadd is an ambassador for We Are Survivors, a charity which supports male survivors of sexual abuse.
Scottish comedian Richard Gadd's Netflix series ‘Baby Reindeer’ is a fictionalized account of his real-life experience being stalked by an obsessed fan.
The limited series follows Gadd’s Donny Dunn as he interacts with his stalker Martha, and delves into his past experiences, including being sexually assaulted by a comedy writer he considered his mentor.
Gadd first dramatized the events in a solo play also called ‘Baby Reindeer’, stating that the skeleton of the story is absolutely true.
Actor, writer and director Sean Foley has been subjected to defamatory, abusive and threatening online posts after being wrongly accused of being the character Darrien, who sexually assaulted Gadd in real life. Police are now investigating.
Gadd has not shared the name of the real Martha and has stated that the real person doesn’t look like Jessica Gunning, the actress who portrays her in the series.
In real life, Gadd has not elaborated on his stalker’s fate other than saying that he had mixed feelings about her receiving nine months in prison and a five-year restraining order from contacting him.
Gadd told Netflix he received 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters from his stalker who also left 350 hours of voicemail messages after getting his phone number. It’s unclear if the real texts and emails Gadd received were used in the series.
All episodes of ‘Baby Reindeer’ are now streaming on Netflix.
