How Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd turned harrowing stalker ordeal and sexual abuse into smash hit Netflix show - as he wins big at the Emmys alongside Jessica Gunning
A decade ago Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd was down and out and never thought he would get his life together after being sexually abused and severely stalked.
A decade ago Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd was down and out and never thought he would get his life together after being sexually abused and severely stalked.
But last night, the Scottish writer, 35, struggled to hold in his emotions as his smash hit Netflix show based on his harrowing experiences won four Emmys at a glitzy ceremony in LA.
Gadd was visibly emotional as he won the awards for Writing for a Limited or Anthology series or Movie and Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology series or Movie.
During a tear-jerking speech, he urged others going through a tough time to persevere.
This is the stuff of dreams, the kilt-wearing comedian said on stage.
Richard Gadd, 35, was visibly emotional as he reflected on his own struggles and battle with mental health issues as his Netflix hit show Baby Reindeer won four Emmys
Baby Reindeer is the drama written by comedian Gadd (who also plays the lead character) based on his real-life experiences with a female stalker, played by Jessica Gunning
Martha actress Gunning, 38, won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie prize for her role as the crazed fan of Gadds Donny Dunn and the show also triumphed in the Outstanding Limited or Anthology series category
The series was a hit and became one of Netflixs most watched shows ever. But the dark comedy thriller has came under fire from those who claimed to have been depicted by the series
Look, 10 years ago I was down and out. I never ever thought Id get my life together.
I never ever thought Id be able to rectify myself what had happened to me and get myself back on my feet again, and then here I am, just over a decade later, picking up one of the biggest writing awards in television.
I dont mean that to sound arrogant. I mean it as encouragement for anyone whos going through a difficult time right now to persevere.
I dont know much about this life, I dont know why we are here, none of that, but I do know that nothing lasts forever, and no matter how bad it gets, it always gets better.
So if youre struggling, keep going – keep going and I promise you things will be okay.
Actress Jessica Gunning, 38, who played his stalker Martha Scott, won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie prize for her role.
The show is a semi-autobiographical comedy drama which told the story of standup comedian Donny Dunn who is harassed and stalked by Martha, sending him 41,000-plus emails, and bombarding him with texts and calls.
It included traumatic scenes of sexual assault and drug taking.
Gadd previously opened up about filming episode four, in which his character is sexually assaulted by a male TV writer who takes struggling comedian Donny under his wing.
Baby Reindeer won a blockbuster four awards at the 2024 Primetime Emmys in LA on Sunday - with Gadd and Gunning triumphing
Actress Gunning, who played his stalker Martha Scott, won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie prize for her role
Gadd won the award for Writing for a Limited or Anthology series or Movie for the Netflix phenomenon - based on his own harrowing experiences of being stalked
He told Variety: We did close the set, but I was looking over and youd see the props guys wiping tears from their eyes as they would be putting the props back how they should be.
The show was based in such a trauma that everyone on set felt at times it was a huge, weighty thing. And its why I think everyone had such respect for everything. I was blessed with this amazing team who kind of felt it with me in a lot of ways.
Those traumatic scenes were based on his own sexual abuse by an older man which he recounted in 2016 with his Fringe show Monkey See Monkey Do.
Gadd said the abuse, which culminated in rape – he did not report it to police – led to a masculinity crisis.
Once quite a lad, he said: I would say that I certainly started to feel like my face didnt fit in among the lad part of my life anymore.
The one-man show, in which Gadd runs away on a treadmill, night after night, trying to escape a figure in a gorilla suit, won him the Edinburgh Fringe comedy award and a £10,000 prize.
Gadd, who is an ambassador for We Are Survivors, a charity dedicated to helping male survivors of sexual abuse, and underwent extensive therapy.
Turning his horrific abuse into a cathartic show was a breakthrough moment for the comedian who suffered anxiety, depression and has spoken of post-traumatic stress disorder.
But amidst the success of his Monkey See, Monkey Do show, Gadd was going through another personal ordeal, this time having to cope with being stalked.
He told the Guardian: It felt like Id expunged the demons of one person who had caused me so much grief, only so that she [his stalker] could take centre stage in his place. It felt so awfully ironic.
The comedian was sexually abused by an older man, which he turned into his Monkey See Monkey Do show. Throughout the performance Gadd runs on a treadmill trying to escape a figure in a monkey costume - a metaphor for his trauma
Gadd would turn his stalking ordeal into Baby Reindeer which debuted at Fringe in 2019
It’s very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused, he told the Guardian in April
Gadd would turn his experiences into Baby Reindeer which debuted at Fringe in 2019.
It’s very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused, he told the Guardian in April.
But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people its based on.
The show was snapped up by Netflix and turned into a mini-series. The name of his tour about being stalked came from the nickname given to him by his stalker who said he was like a cuddly reindeer.
The show was hailed as mind-blowing and one of the most powerful shows Ive ever watched by those who binged all seven episodes within the first days of its release on the streaming platform.
Gadd first met his stalker after he offered a crying stranger a cup of tea when she came into the bar where he worked.
The simple gesture sparked a stalking nightmare that saw him regularly followed at home and work, and tracked on Facebook using three fake accounts.
He told The Times: At first everyone at the pub thought it was funny that I had an admirer. Then she started to invade my life, following me, turning up at my gigs, waiting outside my house, sending thousands of voicemails and emails.
It developed to terrifying lengths as the crazed fan got closer to her obsession - including her turning up at his gigs, his workplace and bombarding him with messages.
Performing a version of what happened to him has enabled him to have ownership of the trauma, the comic says
Gadd first met his stalker after he offered a crying stranger a cup of tea when she came into the bar where he worked
Ms Gunning, Gadd and their fellow castmate Nava Nau. Ms Nau plays a trans woman who dates Donny during the series
Gadds stalker sent him 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, 106 pages of letters and a staggering 350 hours of voicemail over a six year period
The Netflix series sees Martha given a prison sentence for her offences but Gadd hasnt divulged the fate of his real-life stalker
The actor and comedian was subjected to a campaign of obsession by the woman, known as Martha, that manifested in 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, 106 pages of letters and a staggering 350 hours of voicemail.
He says it was years before the police eventually took his complaints seriously - and six years before they finally intervened - something which prolonged the agony for everyone involved including his relatives.
The police told him at the time that unless his stalker became physically violent, there was little they could do to resolve the issue.
He has said he still finds it hard to trust people and has had every therapy going.
Gadd added that the years of being stalked have left him with something like PTSD. For the Netflix role, he lost weight to match his 10-and-a-half stone neurotic self at the height of his own stalking nightmare.
He says he is more cautious of people because of the campaign of terror that Martha inflicted, saying: It takes me a long time to trust them. Before, I entered situations with such abandonment and I got burnt.
However, performing a version of what happened to him has enabled him to have ownership of the trauma. Gadd earned a Fringe award for his show, also called Baby Reindeer, in 2019.
Speaking to the Telegraph in 2019 about the one-man show that he wrote after the ordeal, he said: It was debilitating beyond belief.
Id listen to her voicemails and just feel my eyes welling up. They were tears of frustration. Proper brain-heavy stress.
But the dark comedy thriller has came under fire from those who claimed to have been depicted by the series.
Fiona Harvey came forward claiming to be the inspiration behind Martha, alleging the story was inaccurate, and filed a lawsuit against Netflix.
At the beginning of the first episode, text appears on the screen which says: This is a true story.
Fiona Harvey came forward claiming to be the inspiration behind Martha, alleging the story was inaccurate, and filed a lawsuit against Netflix
Piers Morgan with Fiona Harvey, the inspiration for Martha, in May where she gave a bombshell interview on his YouTube show Uncensored
In the drama, said to be inspired by the real-life experiences of Gadd, his character Donny Dunn is hounded by Martha after he serves her a free cup of tea in the pub where he works.
In the TV series, Martha receives a nine-month prison sentence and a five-year restraining order, which Ms Harvey has disputed.
MailOnline reported in July that Ms Harvey was demanding £135million from the streaming giant, claiming they spread brutal lies because it was a better story than the truth.
I am not a convicted stalker.
