Piers Morgan claims there is “no actual evidence” that the real-life Martha from Netflix show Baby Reindeer ever appeared in court.
The TV host spoke with Scottish woman Fiona Harvey – believed to the inspiration for the character created by show writer Richard Gadd – in an interview that has racked up more than 11 million views.
In the drama series, inspired by the real-life experiences of the comedian and writer, his character Donny is stalked by a woman called Martha after he serves her a free cup of tea in the pub where he works.
In the final episode of the show, Martha, who has already served a four-and-a-half year jail term for a previous stalking conviction, is jailed for nine months.
NetflixSpeaking to Lorraine Kelly on her breakfast show, Morgan said “there is no actual evidence so far” that Ms Harvey was ever in court.
He revealed he has also contacted Gadd to “hear his side of the story”.
He told Lorraine: “I didn’t even realise anywhere near the scale of how big the show is, I honestly had to be persuaded by my team and thank-god they did because it’s been part of the phenomenon now.
“The Baby Reindeer thing globally has been one of the biggest things I have ever been involved in.
Netflix“When you watch the series, it’s gripping television.
“Richard Gadd, I saw him on your show here and he has done an amazing job of telling this story, but the key question after watching the series and watching my interview is – is it actually a true story?
“And the key part of that is did she actually go to prison? Is she a convicted stalker?
“As I sit here Lorraine, there is no actual evidence so far that she has ever even been in court.”
He added: “The key question is whether they have defamed her? If you accuse somebody of being a convicted stalker and they’re not a convicted stalker, that’s a pretty serious mistake to make.
“If it turns out that she isn’t then the Netflix claim at the start of every episode – ‘this is a true story’ – becomes extremely problematic because it’s not a true story.
“I think they’ve got problems here because she is clearly determined to have her day in court with Netflix.”
Asked if Ms Harvey was to receive £1m from the interview as she reportedly requested, Morgan added: “No she’s not going to get a million pound.
“What she wants is an agent… I think we have performed our duty of care.
“We’ve stayed in touch with her since and when she came to the studio, she was actually relatively normal.
“I didn’t get any sign of anyone who I thought was mentally unwell but I do think she sent all these messages and I do think that shows she has an obsessive streak, certainly in relation to Richard Gadd.
“I also think by his own admission, he himself is a pretty damaged individual and he admits to leading her on.
“So it’s a very messy, human interest story at the heart of this.
“I have interviewed serial killers, psychopaths – I have interviewed people who have done really terrible things and she is not one of those.
“I have had far scarier environments by where I have interviewed people.
“I felt it was important that she was allowed to have her say as she had already been revealed by the media as the real life Martha but she had no ability to tell her story… I think I was fair with her.
“I tried to be very fair and balanced. I tried to get to the truth. I think she lied to me a lot in the interview.”
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