Baby Reindeer fans grimace through ‘ethically questionable’ Piers Morgan interview with ‘real’ Martha

Baby Reindeer fans could not look away from Piers Morgan’s interview with Fiona Harvey – the woman who is believed to have inspired the show’s stalker character, Martha Scott.

Richard Gadd’s autobiographical series follows a comedian as he is relentlessly harassed and stalked by Martha (Jessica Gunning) for more than four years. It has become an overwhelming hit for Netflix following its 11 April release.

In a pre-taped interview for Piers Morgan Uncensored that aired on Thursday (9 May), Harvey denied stalking Gadd and said she is considering suing Netflix for defamation.

Before the episode aired on YouTube, viewers questioned the ethics of Morgan’s decision to interview Harvey since Gadd told The Independent that the real person who inspired Martha was “mentally unwell”.

As it aired, fans shared their guilt about watching the bizarre and controversial interview.

“Part of me doesn’t want to watch the interview but I can’t stop watching,” said one.

“My face during this whole interview,” wrote another alongside a gif of Steve Carrell’s character in The Office grimacing.

“Time to watch Piers Morgan conducting one of the most unethical interviews ever,” added a third.

A fourth shared a gif of a man watching through his fingers.

Morgan’s Uncensored did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

During the interview, Harvey denied sending Gadd 41,000 emails and 100 letters while stalking him. Netflix has previously claimed that the emails in the show are the real emails received by Gadd from his stalker.

“I think he probably made them up himself,” Harvey alleged, instead suggesting she sent him just “a handful”. When pressed by Morgan for a number, she said she sent the comedian “less than 10 emails”.

She also discussed her treatment online after fans of the show discovered her identity. “It’s taken over enough of my life,” she said. “I find it quite obscene. I find it horrifying, misogynistic. Some of the death threats have been really terrible online. People phoning me up. You know, it’s been absolutely horrendous.”

However, Harvey did admit to coming up with the nickname that inspired the series: “I had a toy reindeer and he’d shaved his head, that bit is true, and there were reindeers in the shops because it was Christmas time or something. It was a joke. So I have inadvertently penned the name of the show.”

The Independent has contacted Gadd’s representatives for comment.

Since Baby Reindeer aired, Gadd has faced questions about whether he could have better hidden the identities of the people involved in his traumatic past.

Harvey – a 58-year-old Scottish solicitor – was tracked down by tabloid newspapers after her description closely matched that of Martha.

Attempts have also been made to identify the man who raped Gadd, in a sexual assault that is recreated in the show’s fourth episode – and that he explored in 2016 in his award-winning one-man show Monkey See, Monkey Do.

An actor and director named Sean Foley has indicated that he has contacted police over “defamatory, abusive and threatening posts” following speculation made about him in connection to the show.

On his Instagram, Gadd urged viewers to stop. “People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly caught up in speculation. Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard x X.”

Baby Reindeer is available to stream on Netflix.