Baby Reindeer’s ‘Martha’ has now been accused of mass messaging a major politician

As people continue to dig deeper into the real-life story behind Richard Gadd's hit Netflix drama Baby Reindeer – from Piers Morgan to the Kasbah nightclub in Coventry – it’s now been reported that the inspiration behind the fictional stalker ‘Martha’, a lawyer named Fiona Harvey, allegedly sent tons of abusive messages to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

While Gadd has never confirmed the identity of his stalker, internet sleuths soon went wild trying to track her down, as well as the TV producer – named Darrien in the show and played by Tom Goodman-Hill – who groomed and sexually assaulted him.

Indeed, things got so out of hand that outgoing artistic director of the Birmingham Rep theatre, Sean Foley, took to Twitter/X to write that police were investigating “all defamatory abusive and threatening posts” against him.

Gadd himself wrote that Foley was among those he loves, “have worked with, and admire” who have been “unfairly caught up in speculation”.

The actor, who plays a fictionalised version of himself known as Donny Dunn in the seven-part series, also pleaded with viewers not to speculate on the real-life identities of the characters, adding that it’s “not the point of our show”.

Nevertheless, social media soon identified Harvey as being the person contacting Gadd, and she began speaking to the media about how she believes she is the individual alluded to in the Netflix show.

Just last week she appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored to give her take on the events depicted in Baby Reindeer, denying she stalked or harassed Gadd and telling the broadcaster she has only met him “two or three times”.

She admitted she had a toy reindeer as a child, and revealed she once had four to six email addresses at one point.

Harvey hasn’t watched the show, either, which she considers “horrifying” and “misogynistic”.

As well as the TV interview, the Daily Mail’s Neil Sears alleges he’s had a “barrage of non-stop calls and terrifying messages” after conducting his own interview with her, and now The Sun reports she has also targeted Sir Keir.

The outlet says it has seen 276 emails sent to Starmer’s parliamentary email address between January and August 2020, with alleged messages including one featuring an ableist slur to describe his wife, another clocking in at 1,420 words, and a third threatening to ensure his life “won’t be worth living” by filing complaints about him.

At the time, Harvey was based in Kilburn, an area neighbouring Sir Keir’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency.

The report has shocked social media users, who weren’t expecting such a crossover into mainstream politics:

The Sun states Harvey was unavailable for comment, the Labour Party declined to comment, and the Metropolitan Police is understood to have been made aware of the messages.

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