Ever since Baby Reindeer premiered, Richard Gadd and many viewers have requested that Martha (Jessica Gunning)’s true identity be protected and that she be viewed with compassion. However, Piers Morgan ignored the request, hosting an unethical and exploitative interview with the alleged real-life Martha.
Baby Reindeer has rapidly become one of the most-watched and most widely discussed Netflix series of all time. The show is created and written by Gadd and inspired by his experiences as a survivor of stalking and abuse. It follows Donny Dunn (Gadd), an aspiring comedian whose life is turned upside down when Martha (Jessica Gunning) enters the bar where he works one day. Donny feels sympathetic toward the woman, offering her a free cup of tea. However, the small, kind gesture leads to Martha stalking him, his family, and his friends, which resurfaces repressed memories of past trauma Donny experienced.
Baby Reindeer has earned high praise for its moving exploration of trauma and the various imperfect ways survivors cope with it. It was also commended for how it handled Martha’s story. While her actions aren’t excused, the show emphasizes that she was also a victim of trauma, and her situation was exacerbated by authorities’ refusal to help her despite her mental health struggles. Gadd explicitly asked viewers not to try to identify Martha, as the show was never meant to portray her as a monster or encourage anyone to harass or threaten her.
Unfortunately, the internet didn’t listen, and the name Fiona Harvey began circulating far and wide on social media. Eventually, she came forward to claim she was the real-life Martha, and it didn’t take long for Morgan to get involved.
Piers Morgan’s Baby Reindeer interview shouldn’t have happened
It was hardly surprising when Morgan announced his talk show would host Harvey’s first public interview. After all, over the course of his career, he has been accused of phone hacking to obtain information and was fired as editor of the Daily Mirror after he was found to have published fake photographs, which he refused to admit were fake even after the hoax was uncovered.
Now, to add to his list of unethical practices, he has released an interview with Harvey. The interview, which he live-streamed on his YouTube channel, didn’t unveil any noteworthy information. She denied the truthfulness of the vast majority of content in Baby Reindeer. Much of the interview is just Morgan pressing her about the alleged number of e-mails and text messages she sent Gadd and warning her that any electronic communications could be found. Even before the interview premiered, Harvey took to social media expressing her disappointment with Morgan trying to catch her off guard, and stated she felt “a bit used” and like she was “set up” by him.
She is correct that Morgan was using her, as he gloated on X about how many thousands of users were waiting for the live stream of the interview to begin and urged everyone to subscribe to him. He recognized an opportunity for clout and jumped on it without a second thought. His lack of understanding of Baby Reindeer is painfully obvious, as he doesn’t even seem to realize that many details were changed for legal and creative purposes. He frequently pressed Harvey about the truthfulness of details that Gadd had already clarified as fictional, such as Martha serving jail time.
However, above all, the interview takes advantage of a vulnerable person. It’s clear he’s not even remotely interested in hearing her side of the story and is solely chasing clout. The very marketing for the interview was derogatory and ableist as he questioned whether or not Harvey is a “psycho stalker.” Additionally, he knows full well that the interview is going to lead to a torrent of abuse against the woman, as social media users are already making memes and jokes about her interview, especially during the moments when Morgan expresses disbelief or tries to trip her up. People have even taken to mocking her accent online in TikTok and YouTube videos.
It was already a problem that her identity was leaked, and she felt compelled to confirm the news. No one should’ve felt the need to make the situation worse by inviting her for a sensationalized public interview. If she wished to tell her side of the story, she could’ve done so on her own terms without having someone else monetize it, control the narrative, and out her identity to anyone who wasn’t already aware of it. There’s a big difference between her making posts on social media choosing to identify herself and talk about the situation and a disgraced journalist putting her on live television, insinuating she’s a “psycho,” and urging thousands and thousands of viewers to gawk at and mock the interview.
Morgan has quite a reputation for unethical practices, but exploiting a woman who needs help and privacy after being outed by callous internet sleuths is a new low.
(featured image: Netflix)
