Netflix Doubles Down on 'Baby Reindeer' Creator Amid Defamation Lawsuit
After his big Emmy wins on Sunday night, Netflix announced that Baby Reindeer creator and star Richard Gadd had inked a multi-year with the streamer for future scripted series.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed the deal on Tuesday at the Royal Television Society‘s London Convention. "I can give you a bit of news this morning, we have finished our first-look deal with Richard Gadd to do his first work at Netflix," Sarandos said, via The Hollywood Reporter. "I think he’s a brilliant storyteller … I’m very proud of Richard of the story he told and the way he told it, and it is his true story."
The 35-year-old took home wins for outstanding limited or anthology series as well as best lead actor and writing in a outstanding limited or anthology series, even as a real-life defamation lawsuit plays out about the facts portrayed in the comedy-drama thriller, which Gadd said was based on his real-life stalker. Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey, who claims the character of "Martha" was not-so-loosely based on her, has sued the streamer in a $170 million lawsuit.
Baby Reindeer quickly became a pop culture phenomenon when it debuted back in April. However, after a small subset of internet sleuths got to work at uncovering the woman Gadd essentially accused of stalking and harassing him over the course of several years, Harvey revealed her own identity to the world. However, she denies the events that played out in the series, in which it's insinuated that she sent Gadd over 41,000 emails, 744 tweets, 100 pages of letters, and 350 hours of voicemails.
In the series, "Martha" is sent to prison for nine months after leaving threatening voicemails to Gadd, who was at the time a standup comedian who had served her in a London pub. Netflix admitted back in May that Harvey had only been subject to a court order, rather than a prison sentence, leaving one of the biggest claims of the "true story" up in the air.
Baby Reindeer spent a month in the top spot on Netflix, earning a whopping 56.5 million views within 26 days of its release, and received a total of 11 Emmy nominations.
