“Reindeer” is Netflix’s biggest hit in recent weeks. Only apparently it is a story of a young comedian being persecuted by a female stalker. Richard Gadd, who played the main role, and whose experiences the script was based on, assured that he never perceived Martha as a bad person and tried to anonymize the character as much as possible so that she could not be recognized.
‘Real Martha’ from ‘Reindeer’: I think he wanted it to get out and for someone to find out my identity
Of course, there were viewers who started looking for the prototype of Martha. At some point he appeared, but his name was not mentioned, and many people treat the reports of this British tabloid with caution. Now the interview with the “real” Martha – Fiona Harvey – was conducted by the controversial and at the same time very popular journalist Piers Morgan.
The British have known Morgan for years. He was once the youngest editor of a national daily in history. He worked in the tabloids “The Sun”, “Daily Mirror”, “News of the World”, and was a TV presenter. His role as a juror on “Britain’s Got Talent” brought him worldwide popularity. In 2011-2014, he hosted the “Piers Morgan Live” program on CNN. His YouTube channel has 2.66 million subscribers.
Morgan, however, became famous not for his reliable, but aggressive, sensation-oriented profession. His credits include, among others: strong criticism of Duchess Meghan, a loud interview reducing trangender issues to a curiosity, and now there is a conversation with the original heroine of “Reindeer”. It is certainly a matter of great doubt that if we were talking about a person with certain mental problems, he or she could be exploited through such an interview. However, Morgan emphasized several times during the broadcast that he did not want to attack her, but was simply curious about the truth.
At the beginning, he pointed out that Netflix informs viewers before the first scene that it is a “true story”. – Not “inspired by real events”, but “a true story”, he says. He said that you could quickly guess who the “real Martha” was.
Fiona Harvey admitted that she did not watch the Netflix production, she did not want to do so. Five years ago, she learned that Gadd was using, in her opinion, her story in a play that was created before the series. She found out about “Reindeer” two weeks ago. – I receive death threats, I am afraid to check news websites for fear that I will find information about myself there – he says. He adds in a conversation with Morgan:
I couldn’t believe he did it. We first talked for the first time 12 years ago and I wouldn’t have expected something like that from him.
“I think he wanted it to get out and for someone to discover my identity,” she says. “There’s no doubt he has mental problems,” he says of Gadd. She claims that she met him five or six times and that he was pushy towards her, not the other way around. “I had a stuffed reindeer and he shaved its head,” she said, referring to the title of the Netflix series. However, she denies that Gadd offered her tea during their first meeting so that she would never pay in his bar, claiming that he was obsessed with her from the very first minutes.
– I didn’t send him anything, maybe a few replies to emails, some jokes. No text messages, no information on Facebook, maybe 18 tweets about him – says the woman. She admitted to sending one letter. He claims that if Netflix has any evidence, it is fabricated. Gadd said that over the course of four and a half years, he received 41,071 emails from “Marta”, 350 hours of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, 106 pages of letters and many strange gifts.
She called Gadd “psychotic” and his behavior “scandalous”
– I have never been to his house, I have never attacked any of his girlfriends – says the lawyer. – I didn’t know where he lived – she adds, responding to Piers’ information that at various times in the series Martha can be seen hanging out in front of the persecuted man’s house. She says she has never been to prison or charged with anything. At one point she states that he was the one who offered her sex, but she refused. “I’m not interested in little boys without jobs,” she commented.
Harvey admitted that the actress playing her is Scottish, and they look similar, although she is 58 years old and “the actress is about forty”. In her opinion, the fact that Netflix talks about the “true story” and shows a different course of events affected her career and is defamation. She emphasizes that no one from Netflix contacted her. She called Gadd “psychotic” and his behavior “scandalous.” At one point, he uses the term “psychopath” to refer to the screenwriter and actor. He also disputes the rape story Gadd tells in the series, claiming that there is no certainty that such an event occurred.
Harvey dismisses Gadd’s request that viewers not look for originals of the series’ characters, retorting that this is nothing that would absolve him. “People were speculating anyway,” she says, adding that it took journalists several days to reach her. To Morgan’s allegations mentioned during the interview by a lawyer who accused Harvey of molestation in 1997, she also replied that it was not true. Her former employer claims that she had to fire Harvey after a few days, but she says that she left the law firm on her own because people were mean to her.
The live interview was watched by almost 326,000 people. – I don’t know the truth, only you know it. Many of these things can be proven, said Piers Morgan, saying, among other things: about evidence of (un)sent e-mails or voice messages. “I don’t even have his phone number,” Harvey says. But when the journalist presses, pointing out that it’s not a trap but wondering if he’s saying there’s a possibility she sent so many emails, Harvey replies:
I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying that even if he had evidence – and he doesn’t – it doesn’t mean that I did these other things, that I harassed him.
However, Morgan pointed out several times that he used the phrase “even if it were true.” [liczba emaili i innych wiadomości – red.] …the other things are not true [np. pobyt w więzieniu – red.]” What would she want Gadd to say if he watched this conversation?
Leave me alone, get on with your life, find a job, I’m terrified.
He also announces a lawsuit. When asked if she would undergo a lie detector interrogation, she said she would not mind. – I don’t lie, sometimes they are “white lies” if I have no choice – he claims.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
