Netflix drops bombshell update amid $170 M lawsuit after ‘Baby Reindeer’

Netflix has choked up the legal battle between the streaming platform and alleged Baby Reindeer real-life Martha Scott Fiona Harvey to a complicated point.

According to Entertainment Weekly, a recently publicised letter from Michael King, the senior director of public policy for Netflix in the U.K., acknowledged that the real-life Martha was never convicted of stalking.

"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," he stated in the court documents.

This indicates that Harvey, who claimed to be the real-life Martha, never spent time in jail or prison for stalking, despite Baby Reindeer depicting the stalker Scott, played by Jessica Gunning, as spending 4.5 years incarcerated for a prior stalking case in addition to the nine-month sentence for her actions throughout the series.

Moreover, Richard Roth, the lawyer representing Harvey in the case against Netflix, shared his thoughts.

"It is nothing short of remarkable that Netflix sent a formal letter to Parliament informing it that Baby Reindeer was based on Fiona Harvey," he said.

"And yet Gadd stated, in a sworn affidavit under oath submitted by Netflix to the United States Court, that 'I did not write the Series as a representation of actual facts about any real person, including Fiona Harvey.'" Roth continued.

"In the end, it appears that either Netflix submitted a false letter to Parliament or a false declaration to a US District Court. Its conduct is reprehensible," he added.

However, a spokesperson for Netflix claims it isn’t relevant to the case as the letter from King was sent to the committee before Harvey filed her lawsuit. 

Harvey filed a lawsuit against Netflix in June, seeking $170 million in emotional damages.