EXCLUSIVE: Richard Roth, the lawyer for Fiona Harvey, Child Reindeer‘s real-life Martha, has responded to the present’s success on the Emmy Awards.
In an announcement to Deadline, Roth stated: “The Emmy wins affirm that Netflix’s technique labored, going for the upper revenues and awards whereas leaving honesty and transparency behind.”
Roth is pursuing a $170M defamation lawsuit towards Netflix, claiming that the darkly comedian hit collection, billed as a “true story,” was “the most important lie in tv historical past.”
They’re suing after Child Reindeer portrayed Harvey, through the Martha character, as “a twice convicted stalker who was sentenced to 5 years in jail.” Netflix has admitted that Harvey has by no means been convicted of stalking. A trial is set for 2025.
Roth’s feedback observe a staunch protection of the present from Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has been in London talking at a Royal Tv Society occasion.
Sarandos stated repeatedly that Child Reindeer is creator Richard Gadd’s “true story” and that the collection “will not be a documentary, there are parts which might be dramatized.”
He added that the controversy over obligation of care requirements on Child Reindeer is a uniquely British preocupation. The talk is “not taking place anyplace else on the planet,” he argued.
Netflix has additionally doubled down on its relationship with Gadd, signing a multi-year first-look deal with the Scottish author and performer for scripted collection.
The settlement was unveiled on the heels of Child Reindeer’s standout efficiency on the Emmys the place it dominated the longform subject with six wins, together with Excellent Restricted Collection.
In July, Gadd submitted a courtroom assertion in help of Netflix’s efforts to get Harvey’s swimsuit struck out. One in all Gadd’s central arguments was that Harvey will not be Martha. “Like all characters within the collection, Martha is a fictional character with fictional persona traits which might be very totally different than Harvey’s.”
Having stated this, the author and actor cataloged how he was “harassed and stalked” by Harvey over a number of years.
Detailing emails and extra from Harvey, a lot of that are redacted reveals now within the courtroom docket, Gadd famous that he “obtained a First Occasion Harassment Warning towards Harvey” from UK police in 2016. “General, it was an extremely annoying and worrying time, with a sustained interval of relentless behaviour going down over a number of years,” he added.
