Baby Reindeer has become a cultural phenomenon that keeps sprouting stories that continue to shock everyone. The acclaimed Netflix series, which tells the tale of a struggling male comedian’s warped relationship with a female stalker, refers to real-life events — and people claiming to have witnessed them are having their say about them.
Last week, someone on X (formerly Twitter) purporting to be Fiona Harvey’s nephew claimed she had been to jail, despite her claims that she hadn’t. However, it turned out to be a hoax.
More recently, a barmaid who worked at the north London pub where Richard Gadd (playing Donny Dunn in the show) supposedly met Fiona Harvey (allegedly Baby Reindeer‘s Martha Scott) told the Daily Mail her version of events, which paints a different chain of events and highlights both Gadd and Harvey as liars.
What does the barmaid claim really happened?
The woman, now in her 30s and who has chosen to remain anonymous, told the British newspaper she felt “uncomfortable” with the environment at the Hawley Arms in Camden due to its “misogynistic culture,” which was fuelled by “drug-taking, alcohol, and promiscuousness.”
Her description of events pours doubt on some of the claims made by both Gadd and Harvey, and she says Gadd’s portrayal of his treatment of his stalker didn’t “sit right” with her.
“There was some underlying joke going on. I feel sorry for her. She was clearly vulnerable and clearly lonely. I think she was targeted as a joke between the male staff members and he led her on for the laughs. She must have got the impression that he fancied her because of this, hence the alleged stalking.”
While Baby Reindeer did show Gadd’s character, Donny, as laughing at Martha’s expense initially, it eventually portrayed him as a more sympathetic character. But allegedly that’s not what he was really like, according to his former colleague.
“The staff would talk about her. She was looking for a bit of companionship because there were people to talk to and I think he played in on that as a joke and now he’s made loads of money out of it and she’s still being the target of ridicule. I really do think it was all one big joke for their entertainment.”
If that’s true, it doesn’t reflect well on Gadd. However, the former barmaid also refuted some of Harvey’s claims.
Harvey told Piers Morgan on Piers Morgan Uncensored that she only met Gadd five or six times. The barmaid, however, said she was a “familiar face” at the bar and encountered Gadd far more often since she would be in three times a week, “always by herself,” which contradicts another part of Harvey’s story where she claimed being at the pub with someone when Gadd first interrupted their conversation.
Too many parts of the chaos Baby Reindeer triggered are currently in motion – Harvey plans to sue Netflix and Gadd, a U.K. MP is pissed at the streamer, another stalking victim of Harvey has come forward, the real-life Martha is also demanding a jaw-dropping amount from Piers Morgan, and of course, different accounts of what really happened all those years ago continue to crop up. It remains to be seen what the end picture will be when everything is said and done.