Baby Reindeer's real-life Martha 'targeted by cult' amid 'death threats' from internet sleuths

29 April 2024, 15:05 | Updated: 29 April 2024, 15:17

The real life Martha at the centre of the Baby Reindeer Netflix drama has been targeted by "a cult" after being unmasked by internet sleuths.

Depicted by Jessica Gunning as part of the viral Netflix series, the real-life stalker was previously accused of harassing two of Scotland’s leading politicians - including First Minister Donald Dewar.

Now, 58-year-old Fiona Harvey has claimed she's become the target of internet trolls, cults and amateur sleuths following the series.

She continues to deny being the stalker, but claims she's received targeted attention from "nutters" and is in fact being stalked herself following the Baby Reindeer's success.

Would-be sleuths have attempted to unmask the character's real-life counterpart in recent days, with the Scottish-born woman now saying she's been targeted by "dangerous" internet stalkers from "a cult thing like the Moonies".

Penned by Fife-born comedian Richard Gadd, the show centres around his own stalking experiences at the hands of the as yet unnamed woman while he was a bartender at The Hawley Arms in Camden, London.

It follows a statement by Gadd urging fans not to try and track down the real-life Martha.

The Scottish graduate, whose identity was obscured by Gadd in the series, claims she's yet to see the show.

It follows news she is now considering legal action against Netflix over the portrayal of the role.

Gadd's one-man stage show debuted at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a concept that was later picked up by the streaming service.

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At the time, Gadd wrote on Instagram: “People I love, have worked with and admire … are unfairly getting caught up in speculation. Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of the show.”

Now, the real-life Martha has spoken out about the unprecedented attention on social media.

Comparing internet sleuths and online harassers to fanatics, she told The Daily Record: "These people are nutters. It's a cult thing like the Moonies. I've had to block people who say they are determined to stalk me the same way I am stalking them."

She then quipped: "Apparently, I play with baby reindeers all day.

"What upsets me is that some of these stalkers could be dangerous. They could be violent. I could be killed," she said during an interview with The Daily Record.

She continued: "I'm not suicidal. I'm not the type, but I think this would have driven anyone else to suicide. I really do."

Ms Harvey, originally from Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, took to social media over the weekend and continue to assert she had not stalked Gadd.

It's alleged she made a bid to be nominated by Labour for a Holyrood seat during a period she was stalking Dewar.

It's claimed she frequently turned up at his constituency surgeries and claimed she was his “special adviser”, according to The Sun.

In a post from April 25, Harvey wrote on social media: “Richard Gadd who is not known to me wrote a show four or five years ago for the festival fringe called Baby Reindeer it would appear to be popular on Netflix now among twenty somethings with no brain.

“I do not follow the rantings of Richard Gadd or… comedians like him. I have no idea what he’s said apart from a few quotes thrown at me this week by other people.

“He seems to have some… woman called Martha being played by an actress pretending to be me again. I do not know this actress.”