A timeline of the twists and turns of Emmy-winning 'Baby Reindeer,' as a judge clears the way for Fiona Harvey to continue with her defamation lawsuit

After its debut, the show was met with widespread praise from audiences and critics alike, earning itself a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

11 days after "Baby Reindeer" was released, Netflix announced that it was submitting the show for consideration at the 2024 Emmys, Deadline reported.

Because "Baby Reindeer" is based on a true story, it wasn't long before fans started searching for the real people involved with the show.

According to Google Trends, fans were mostly searching for "Baby Reindeer real Martha," as well as Gadd, and a man viewers thought was his real-life abuser.

Because the show uses the real messages and emails that Gadd said the stalker sent him, some people cross-referenced them on social media. Toward the end of April, some TikTok users concluded that they found the woman who stalked Gadd.

Fans also tried to piece together who might have sexually assaulted Gadd when he was an aspiring comedian. In the show, the perpetrator is a powerful TV producer called Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill).

There was intense speculation that the character was based on writer, actor, and producer Sean Foley, who coincidentally stepped down from his role as the artistic director at the Birmingham Repertory Theater on April 18.

Four days later, on the evening of April 22, Gadd made a statement defending Foley and asked fans to stop speculating who the characters are based on.

On April 27, the Daily Mail published an interview with a woman who claimed to be the person that Gadd based Scott on in "Baby Reindeer." The outlet did not reveal her name.

The woman criticized Gadd, and said: "He's using 'Baby Reindeer' to stalk me now. I'm the victim. He's written a bloody show about me."

She also said that a lot of the show is false, and that she was considering legal action against Gadd and Netflix.

At the end of the show, Scott explains that a baby reindeer toy was the only thing that gave her comfort during her difficult childhood, which is why she nicknamed Dunn "baby reindeer."

Harvey said that was false: "I've never owned a toy baby reindeer, and I wouldn't have had any conversation with Richard Gadd about a childhood toy either."

Netflix hosted a "Baby Reindeer" screening and Q&A session on May 7 in Los Angeles with both Gadd and Gunning.

When asked about how he depicted the real people depicted as characters in the show, Gadd said he feels "toxic empathy" toward his stalker.

"I never saw someone who was a villain," Gadd said. "I saw someone who was lost by the system, really. I saw someone who needed help and wasn't getting it. At the end of the day, she's just someone who's in a lot of pain."

On May 8, Piers Morgan announced that he had interviewed Fiona Harvey, the woman on whom the stalker is allegedly based.

Harvey identified herself as the woman depicted. Gadd hasn't confirmed that. (It also isn't clear whether Harvey was the unnamed woman who spoke to the Daily Mail.)

Before the episode of "Piers Morgan Uncensored" aired on May 9, Harvey spoke to Scotland's Daily Record newspaper about the interview.

She claimed that Morgan only paid her £250 (around $320) for her appearance and that he "used" her, trying to make her look bad.

"I have my own thoughts on it that I'd like to keep to myself but I wouldn't say I was happy. It was very rapid to try to trip me up," Harvey said. "He did it fast-paced to catch me off guard."

Morgan's representatives did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.

In the 54-minute long interview, Harvey denied that she stalked Gadd, and claimed that she didn't send him 41,000 emails, a claim Gadd made in a 2019 interview with The Independent.

"I don't think I sent him anything. There may have been a couple of emails, jokey banter, but that is it," Harvey told Morgan.

She also alleged that Gadd propositioned her for sex, but she declined.

When Morgan asked if she'd watched "Baby Reindeer," Harvey said: "No, I think I'd be sick. It's taken over enough of my life. I find it quite obscene. I find it horrifying, misogynistic," she explained. "He's making money out of my misery. He's making money out of untrue facts. He's the ultimate misogynist."

Gadd has not responded to Harvey's claims. His representatives did not respond to BI's request for comment.

Morgan gave his opinion on his interview with Harvey in a column for The Sun newspaper on May 9.

"I'd say Fiona Harvey lied to me quite a lot in the interview and if her threatened legal action against Netflix and Gadd goes ahead, I suspect it will quickly emerge she did send all the emails, messages, and letters to him," Morgan wrote. "But that doesn't mean she can't be a victim here too."

He went on: "There were moments in the interview where my suspicious alarm bells rang loud, especially when she suddenly said, 'Even if the email thing was true, the rest is not.'"

The Hollywood Reporter published an interview with Gadd on May 13 that took place before Harvey's "Piers Morgan Uncensored" appearance. The actor shared his thoughts on audiences trying to find the people that the "Baby Reindeer" characters are based on.

"I don't agree with the sleuth thing. I've put out a statement publicly saying I want the show to be received as a piece of art, and I want the show to people to enjoy as a piece of art," he said.

"If I wanted the real life people to be found, I would've made it a documentary," Gadd continued. "I've spoken publicly about how I don't want people to do it and if I start playing a game of whack-a-mole, then I'm almost adding to it. I don't think I'll ever comment on it ever again."

On May 14, Harvey told the Daily Record that she was unhappy with how much she was paid for appearing on "Piers Morgan Uncensored."

"They offered me £250 and I asked if that was what they paid everyone and, if so, I wanted to see documentation to that effect," she said. "That documentation has not been forthcoming. I have not signed a contract for the interview and I will be seeking far more than a piddling £250."

Harvey added that she wants a lot more: "I'd settle for a million." (A million pounds is about $1.25 million).

She also criticized Morgan for the way she claimed he treated her on the set.

"He didn't even say goodbye and only got the photograph taken with me because he needed it for the publicity," Harvey claimed.

Morgan appeared on ITV's morning chatshow, "Lorraine," on May 14 to talk about what it was like speaking to Harvey when he reacted to her request for £1 million.

He told host Lorraine Kelly: "No. She's not going to get £1 million. What she wants is an agent. We gave her the same amount we give 95% of all our guests. We don't discuss terms, but we paid for her to have a nice haircut, a car, and everything else."

"I think we've performed our duty of care, we stayed in touch with her since," Morgan added.

On May 13, Kasbah nightclub in Coventry, England, wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post that Harvey would appear at the venue on Saturday, May 18, to pose for selfies with "Baby Reindeer" fans.

On May 15, the club claimed on Facebook the event had been canceled over safety fears. "Unfortunately, the promoter of this Saturday's meet & greet with Fiona Harvey has deemed the event unsafe and canceled the appearance due to the negative publicity," the post read.

Two days later, on May 17, Harvey told the Daily Record that she never agreed to appear at the nightclub.

"Of course it's not true. If I am supposed to be a mad stalker, why do they want me in the nightclub? No nightclub has approached me, she said. "I didn't even know there were any nightclubs in Coventry."

She added: "I can barely go out for coffee let alone clubbing. It's another example of people trying to exploit me. Though I'd probably make more money signing autographs than I would from appearing on Piers Morgan."

Kasbah nightclub did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

British newspaper The Sun reported on May 19 that Harvey harassed Prime Minister Keir Starmer while he was an MP in 2020.

The outlet claimed it had seen 276 emails Harvey sent Starmer over eight months.

One screenshot purporting to show an email sent on April 9, 2020, sees the writer insulting Starmer, calling him a "stupid little boy."

Per The Sun, the messages were spillovers from a dispute Harvey was having with local government in north London, in a similar area to Starmer's constituency.

The email included many spelling and grammatical errors, which were also present in the messages shown in the Netflix series.

"[F]rom now on il l complain about the slightest little thing," one email said.

"Your life won't be worth living you do fuck all about anything and all I get is abuse every two minutes of the day from your non party I'm sick to the back teeth of it."

The emails were also signed off with the now infamous "Sent from my iPhone," which is another detail from "Baby Reindeer."

The Labour Party and Starmer's office did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

On May 24 the Roth Law Firm based in New York released a statement stating that it is representing Harvey.

Nava Mau, the actor who plays Dunn's girlfriend Teri in the series, said on June 4 that the cast haven't watched Harvey's interview with Morgan.

Mau told Entertainment Tonight on the Gotham Awards red carpet: "Yeah, we decided not to watch it, so we didn't."

It seems like the "Baby Reindeer" crew is avoiding discussing Harvey, which is understandable since she has threatened legal action against Gadd and Netflix.

The Roth Law Firm did not respond to BI's request for comment.

On June 6, Harvey's representatives filed a lawsuit against Netflix, seeking more than $170 million in damages.

They allege that Netflix defamed her in "Baby Reindeer," doing a poor job of disguising her identity.

They said the show ruined her life and left her afraid even to go outside.

"As a result of Defendants' lies, malfeasance and utterly reckless misconduct, Harvey's life had been ruined. Simply, Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life," the suit reads.

Another part said: "As a direct result of 'Baby Reindeer,' Harvey has become extremely secluded and isolated, in fear of the public, going days without leaving her home."

A Netflix spokesperson told Business Insider: "We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd's right to tell his story."

On July 28, Gadd's legal representatives filed a declaration of support for Netflix in California, which included evidence of the emails, voicemails, and handwritten letters that the actor alleged Harvey sent him.

The filing described the emails as "sexually explicit, violent, and derogatory."

Netflix has proposed a motion to dismiss Harvey's $170 million lawsuit, and a hearing has been set for September 3, 2024.

Harvey's lawyer, Richard Roth, told Business Insider via email:

'"Netflix's motion ties itself in knots. First, Netflix and Richard Gadd indisputably admit 'Baby Reindeer' is not a true story — the very essence of Ms. Harvey's claims. After asserting — under oath — that 'Martha' is not Fiona Harvey, it then engages in more attacks of Ms. Harvey, allegations that are irrelevant and have nothing to do with the litigation or the 'true story' of 'Baby Reindeer.' Meanwhile, Richard Gadd continues to hide from the press."

On July 31, Deadline published a copy of a letter Netflix's director of public policy, Benjamin King, sent to MP Dame Caroline Dinneage, who chairs the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in Parliament.

In the letter dated May 23, 2024, King clarified that Harvey was not convicted of stalking Gadd. In "Baby Reindeer," Scott is a twice-convicted stalker and receives a five-year prison sentence in the last episode.

King's letter addresses the committee's concerns that journalists had not been able to verify the show's conviction claims.

He wrote: "I wanted to clarify our understanding that the person on whom the show is based — who we have at no point sought to identify — was subject to a court order rather than a conviction. "

Gadd told Deadline in an interview published in August that the buzz around "Baby Reindeer" meant he couldn't leave the house.

"I just suddenly became aware that it was getting swept up into this huge thing, and then it was difficult to leave the house without someone lurking outside," he said. "I've been papped outside the house. Then the odd fan, or the odd person asking about it."

He continued: "There was a time where I would be stuck inside, but even there I couldn't escape it. It was this weird feeling that it was becoming too big to control. Not that I wanted to control it, but it was becoming too big for its own good. It just felt like it was everywhere on the news, on the radio, outside my house."

Gadd went on that: "everything I would say, everything I would do, would become a news story," and added that he had to wear a cap and sunglasses to avoid being recognized when he had to use the subway to travel across London.

On September 15, "Baby Reindeer" won four awards at the 2024 Emmys, including best limited series, best lead actor for Gadd, best supporting actress for Gunning, and best writing.

When speaking to press after the ceremony, Gadd was asked about the controversy surrounding Harvey and the lawsuit, Deadline reported.

He responded: "It's easier in this day and age to focus on the negatives. I think what you have to look at is what 'Baby Reindeer' has done globally. I mean, how many have watched it worldwide? It's something like 80 million."

He added that the show raised awareness about male sexual assault victims, which he said led to an increase in calls to charities in the UK.

"It's touched the lives of so many people. For charities in the UK, there has been an 80% increase for sexual abuse charities, 53% of which cite 'Baby Reindeer.' But nobody seems to be talking about that. The show has done some phenomenal things worldwide for so many people, I'll stand by that," Gadd said.

Gadd's comments refer to We Are Survivors, a charity supporting male sexual abuse victims, which reported an 80% increase in calls in the first two weeks after "Baby Reindeer" was released.

In May, the charity's CEO and founder, Duncan Craig, told The Independent: "I've never in 15 years I've been in this field seen a response like it."

On Friday, Judge Gary Klausner denied Netflix's motions to dismiss Harvey's lawsuit, allowing her to sue over defamation and emotional distress.

But he did dismiss several of Harvey's claims, including of gross negligence and punitive damages.

In his ruling, the judge said that the words "this is the true story" appear onscreen in the first episode but argued that some of the show's claims are not "substantially true."

"There is a major difference between stalking and being convicted of stalking in a court of law. Likewise, there are major differences between inappropriate touching and sexual assault, as well as between shoving and gouging another's eyes," the judge said, referring to scenes involving Scott and Dunn.

The judge also noted the Sunday Times of London reported in June, citing an unnamed source, that Netflix specifically requested the "this is a true story" line be included, despite Gadd's concerns. This could amount to "actual malice," the judge said.

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

Netflix did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.