Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos says the debate around Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer being a true story is “uniquely British,” and noted that elements of the show were dramatized.
Gadd wrote and starred as himself in Baby Reindeer, which he claims is based on real events from his life. In the show, Gadd is mercilessly stalked by an older woman named Martha, who lies to him about being a practicing lawyer. Meanwhile, he also experiences sexual abuse at the hands of a filmmaker.
Read more: More than 95,000 Japanese aged over 100, most of them women
Following the release and immense success of the show, online sleuths found out the “real-life Martha,” and the woman, named Fiona Harvey, even appeared for a tell all interview with Piers Morgan.
She then sued Netflix for $170M over her depiction in the Emmy-winning show, claiming that Gadd’s narrative about her is false.
Read more: Time ‘running out’ for deal with Hezbollah – Israeli defense chief
However, Sarandos told RTS London that the debate about whether the show is based on a “true story” is “not happening anywhere else in the world.”
He argued that Baby Reindeer “is not a documentary, there are elements that are dramatized.”
“We are watching it performed by actors on TV, we think that’s abundantly clear that there is dramatization involved,” he explained.
Sarandos went on to dub Baby Reindeer “Richard Gadd‘s true story,” adding: “We are facilitating storytellers to tell their stories.”
Meanwhile, Richard Gadd won two Emmys over the weekend for Baby Reindeer, including Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie, as well as Outstanding Writing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie.