Kasbah Nightclub in Coventry has cancelled a meet and greet with Fiona Harvey, the woman claiming to be the inspiration behind the fanatical stalker character Martha in Baby Reindeer, following public backlash. Harvey was booked to appear at the nightclub where she was scheduled to sign autographs, take selfies and hang her curtains like the character from the Netflix series. This was following her first television interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, where she identified herself as the person on whom Martha was based.
Kasbah has issued another statement on Facebook explaining the event was cancelled as it was deemed “unsafe” due to the negative publicity. The statement promotes discounted entry for customers who quote “Martha” at the front door on Saturday before midnight. Many people opposed Harvey being given a platform, leading to the nightclub receiving backlash. In the semi-autobiographical account of creator and star Richard Gadd, Martha is a relentless stalker of Gadd’s protagonist, Donny.
Over the course of Baby Reindeer, Martha, who is played by Jessica Gunning, becomes increasingly involved in Donny’s life, showing up to his workplace, attacking his partner and sending him thousands of emails. Harvey denied many of the details in Baby Reindeer and called the series “a load of rubbish” in her recent interview. She also confirmed that she will “absolutely” be taking legal action against Gadd, and asked him to “leave me [her] alone”.
Neither Netflix nor Gadd have commented on Harvey’s claims to be the “real-life” Martha, but Netflix’s policy chief Benjamin King has said that both the streaming service and the production company “took every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story”. Another British comedian has also come forward claiming that she too has been targeted online by Harvey
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