UK Woman Says She Inspired 'Baby Reindeer', Sues Netflix For $170 Million

A woman who says she is the inspiration for the relentless stalker at the center of Netflix’s "Baby Reindeer" sued the streaming giant on Thursday for defamation and is seeking at least $170 million in damages.

Fiona Harvey, a Scottish attorney living in England who says the character Martha on the widely viewed limited series is clearly based on her, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles that also alleges that Netflix was negligent, intentionally subjected her to emotional distress and violated her right to publicity.

On the British black comedy based on a one-man stage show by Richard Gadd, Gadd plays a doppelganger named Donny Dunn, who in his day job at a pub gives Martha, a bubby, quick-to-laugh customer, a free cup of tea. She eventually becomes a stalker who sends him tens of thousands of emails, tweets at him hundreds of times, smashes a bottle over his head and gouges his eyes, sexually assaults him, and is eventually arrested and sent to prison.