(CNN)- A Scottish woman accused of harassing “Baby Reindeer” creator and star Richard Gad can move forward with her defamation lawsuit against Netflix after a federal judge in California declined to dismiss all claims.
In a judgment issued on Friday, Judge R. Gary Klausner wrote that although Fiona Harvey’s “alleged actions are reprehensible,” differences in the way the show portrayed them “may have created a different effect on the minds of viewers” and, therefore, on the minds of the accused.
CNN has contacted Gad and Netflix for comment.
In a statement to CNN in June, a Netflix spokesperson said: “We intend to vigorously defend this case and protect Richard Gad’s right to tell his story.”
Award-winning Netflix miniseries six emmy awardsGad describes it as a “true story” of harassment by a woman who bombarded her with over 40,000 emails and hundreds of hours of voicemails.
The show topped most-watched charts worldwide following its premiere in April, generating headlines and speculation about the characters and the people who inspired them. Harvey, who was quickly tracked down by online sleuths and labeled the “real Martha Scott”, filed a lawsuit in California’s Central District Court in June, demanding a jury trial and US$170 million in damages. Went.
Gad previously told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that the story was “emotionally very real… but we wanted it to exist within the realm of art, while also protecting the people it’s based on.”
However, his repeated requests to the audience to stop trying to find out the real identities of the characters in his story fell on deaf ears.
In the lawsuit, Harvey alleged “several major differences” between her and Martha’s character that troubled Gad’s character, Donnie Dunn. Specifically, Harvey claims that viewers concluded that she was also a “twice-convicted felon who spent five years in prison for harassment,” “harassed a police officer,” “gad in an alley.” sexually assaulted”, “violently assaulted Gadd… gouged out her eyes with his thumbs” and “saw Gadd waiting for her outside her house for up to 16 hours a day.”
In his ruling, Judge Klausner addressed Netflix’s argument that these examples were “substantially true”, a commonly used defense against defamation that assumes that the general meaning of a statement is true. The streaming company argued that, although Harvey is not a twice-convicted felon, “he could have been convicted and sentenced to five years in prison,” and that he “groped (Gad), pinched her.” And touched various parts of his body, including your “butt”, without your consent.
Klausner disagreed with Netflix’s argument, writing that “There is a big difference between harassment and being convicted of harassment in a court of law. “Similarly, there are big differences between inappropriate touching and sexual assault, as well as between pushing another person and gouging out his or her eyes.”
Klausner also argued that Harvey might be able to demonstrate “actual malice” if Netflix knowingly presented fictional events as real events. As possible evidence of this, he cited information The Sunday TimesCiting television industry sources, Gad reportedly had concerns about making “Baby Reindeer” appear completely true, and described the drama from which the show was adapted as “based on a true story”. Was.
Although the judge accepted the claims of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, he rejected Harvey’s claims for negligence, gross negligence, and right of publicity, as well as his request for punitive damages.
