Richard Gadd may be personally sued, says Fiona Harvey lawyer ahead of Netflix libel case

Richard Gadd has been warned he faces being personally sued for his portrayal of a stalker in TV series Baby Reindeer.

It comes as Gadd, who grew up in Wormit, made his first public appearance in Scotland since his Netflix show won four Emmys.

The 35-year-old, a former student at Madras College in St Andrews, finished empty-handed after being nominated for three Bafta Scotland awards in Glasgow on Sunday night.

Fiona Harvey, 59, has identified herself as the stalker played by Jessica Gunning in Baby Reindeer, which began at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019.

Harvey disputes Gadd’s version of events, described in the show as “a true story”, and a US judge recently ruled her defamation case can go ahead – though Netflix has appealed the decision.

Fiona Harvey may have ‘option’ to begin personal proceedings against Richard Gadd

The lawyer representing Harvey, who is from Fyvie in Aberdeenshire, says he is “very very very confident” that her £132m lawsuit against Netflix will prove successful.

If so, Harvey may then take out a personal case against Gadd.

Her legal representative is Attorney Richard Roth of the New York City-based Roth Law Firm, PLLC.

He told The Courier from his headquarters in Manhatten’s Madison Avenue: “If we win the case it is possible to sue Richard.

“We have a master plan and this is not something for the immediate future.

“We have to deal with the appeal and get ready for what will be a trial.

“But it is certainly one of our options – and we are always considering all of our options.”

Netflix refuses to have defamation case dismissed

In September, District Judge Gary Klausner refused Netflix’s request to have Harvey’s case dismissed.

Mr Klausner, 83, has been a California district judge since being appointed by then-president George W Bush in 2002.

He will preside over Netflix’s appeal and the defamation trial that may follow.

Minutes of Netflix’s unsuccessful dismissal claim said: “According to the Sunday Times, defendants insisted on adding the ‘this is a true story’ lines to the series despite Gadd’s concerns.

“This suggests a reckless disregard of whether statements in the series were false, and thus, actual malice.

“Because each of defendants’ attempts to defeat the defamation claim fail, plaintiff has demonstrated that the claim has a probability of prevailing on the merits.”

Mr Roth said: “Netflix filed close to 100 papers saying the case should be thrown out and the judge said ‘no’.

“We have a fabulous case and the federal court judge seems to agree with me.”

Baby Reindeer success while ‘Fiona receives death threats’

Netflix is accused of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED).

In the seven-part series Martha, the Baby Reindeer character Harvey believes is based on her, is convicted of stalking and sent to prison twice.

Harvey has never been convicted of any crime in real life.

Mr Roth also says nothing was done to disguise Harvey’s identity in the show.

“The woman who plays her, Jessica Gunning, sounds like her, looks like her, acts like her, dresses like her, has a strong Scottish accent and is a lawyer like her.

“It took a nanosecond for people to find out who it was.”

Baby Reindeer has been a worldwide commercial and critical success.

It is currently the 10th most popular English-language series ever on Netflix with 65 million viewers.

In September, Gadd won three Emmy awards for writing, producing and acting in the series. The show picked up four in total.

Gadd will also collect one of the GQ Men of the Year awards in London on Tuesday.

If the judge awards punitive damages to Harvey, “the sky is the limit,” says Mr Roth.

“We are talking hundreds of millions of pounds,” he continued.

“We are very very very confident – that’s three verys.

“And the judge has confirmed the strength of our case.

“While you have a guy winning accolades you have Fiona sitting in her apartment receiving death threats.

“It is totally unfair and distasteful.”

Netflix argues that most viewers would understand the claims made in Baby Reindeer to be “not factual” because it was shot in the style of a drama.

The streaming giant also says the similarities between the real and fictionalised people were so broad that average viewers would not have been able to identify Ms Harvey as Martha.

Gadd was born in Wormit in May 1989 and is a former pupil at Wormit Primary School and Madras College.

In 2022, he starred as Conrad Lennox in the Disney Plus series Wedding Season.

For the show, he was able to have DUFC drawn on his knuckles, highlighting his love for Dundee United.