A COVENTRY bar has been slammed as a “disgrace” with fans left “appalled” after the venue booked Fiona Harvey – Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha – for a PA.
The Netflix series has taken the nation by storm – with Piers Morgan the first to interview the Scot last week on his show Uncensored.
The gritty series is based on comedian Richard Gadd’s experiences of a female stalker.
It shows Richard as struggling comedian Donny Dunn, who juggles his side-hustle stand-up with a job at a London pub.
When he offers fellow Scot, Martha – played by Jessica Gunning, 38 – a free cup of tea at the bar, she swiftly becomes obsessed with him and the tale spirals into dark twists and turns.
Internet supersleuths took just days to pinpoint the “real” Martha – this being legal graduate and London resident Fiona– and she now appears to be embracing her new-found, if unwanted, fame.
Coventry bar Kasbah stunned fans as it uploaded an image of the star, 58, to social media announcing she would be at the venue on Saturday, May 18.
Billing the event as a “world exclusive” they wrote: “A personal appearance by Fiona Harvey aka Martha of Baby Reindeer this Saturday 18th May.
“She will be signing autographs, taking selfies and she may also take a lucky reindeer home to hang her curtains!
“Tag a friend who loves a bit of curtain hanging,” followed by a wink Emoji icon.
The last line is a reference to a sexual innuendo mentioned in the seven-part series.
Yet fans were less than impressed.
One took to the comments section to write: “If this is real it’s a disgrace and you should be ashamed.”
A second put: “This wasn’t it gang,” as a third mused: “Surely a bit far no.”
One then posted: “Turning a victim’s story of stalking and sexual assault into a joke and trying to profit from it is genuinely depraved and you should feel nothing but shame.”
Plot line
As well as tracking down the real Fiona, internet fans also pinpointed the real Camden boozer which sparked the whole storyline off.
Richard’s character Donny initially appreciates the attention he’s getting from Martha and flirts with her.
However, she soon crosses the boundary from friend to stalker, which brings to light Donny’s past trauma of sexual abuse.
On screen
Fiona opened up in a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan last week.
She accused the show’s writer Richard Gadd of “making money out of untrue facts” as well as denied she’d ever watched Baby Reindeer.
She admitted how she was indeed Baby Reindeer’s protagonist Martha– but was no stalker.
After the interview aired, fans were quick to note five key facts which Fiona had disputed in the Netflix show plotline.
Meanwhile on Tuesday’s Lorraine, TV favourite Piers suggested Netflix may have “lied” about Fiona.
Piers said that Netflix claiming that the show “is a true story” could be problematic.
Baby Reindeer by numbers
The Netflix series has become quite the breakout smash hit...
- 7 Number of episodes in the series
- 30 Number of countries the series has topped the Netflix chart in
- 64 Percentage increase in viewers the show earned in its second week, compared to its first
- 97 The show’s percentage score on industry bible Rotten Tomatoes
- 41,071 Amount of emails Richard claims he was sent by the real life Martha
- 13.3 million Number of viewers who tuned into the show during its first week
Piers told anchor Lorraine Kelly today: “She has a right to have her say and was happy to come on the show, I tried to be very fair and balanced and tried to get to the truth.
“I think she lied in the interview but is she a convicted stalker?
“The key point is, if she isn’t, then the Netflix claim at the start of every episode saying ‘this is a true story’ becomes problematic.
“Have they defamed her? If you accuse someone of being a convicted stalker and they are not, that is a pretty serious claim to make.
“I think they’ve got problems here because she clearly is determined to have her day in court with Netflix.”
