(Los Angeles) A ​​British woman claiming to be the woman portrayed through the violent and manipulative character of Baby Reindeer, the latest hit series from the giant Netflix, filed a complaint for defamation against the platform on Thursday, demanding $170 million in compensation.

Fiona Harvey has emerged from obscurity after fans of the show identified her as the real “Martha,” a woman who spies on and harasses “Donny,” the central character in Baby Reindeer.

In this short, seven-episode phenomenon series, released in April on Netflix, Scottish actor Richard Gadd, who plays himself, portrays the harassment he suffered for years from a woman. A “true story,” it is claimed on screen.

“This assertion […] is the biggest lie in the history of television,” criticizes the complaint filed by Ms. Harvey in California. The latter considers that she has been defamed and accuses Netflix of having caused her moral damage.

“This is a lie told by Netflix and the show’s creator, Richard Gadd, out of greed and lust for fame; it is a lie designed to attract more viewers, attention, make more money and viciously destroy the life of the plaintiff, Fiona Harvey,” the document continues.

This, he claims, “because it was a better story than the truth.”  

In the series, “Martha” harasses the comedian over several years, sending him thousands of emails and voicemails, going to the bar where he works and his comedy shows, even going so far as to attack to his parents and his girlfriend.

She is also shown to have committed a sexual assault on the actor.

At the end of April, Richard Gadd called on Instagram fans of the series to stop trying to discover the identity of the characters.

In interviews, he said he changed details of the story in order to protect the real “Martha”, but the identity of Fiona Harvey quickly circulated on social networks, with Internet users going so far as to make threats against her. against.

After his name was made public, Ms. Harvey denied in a television interview having harassed the actor by message or even having attacked him. She says she received death threats.

Requested by Agence France-Presse, Netflix did not immediately respond.