Baby Reindeer creator is provoking his stalker

[jengachampion]

SPOILERS AHEAD
I’ll preface this by saying I had a male stalker for 7 years. I moved, changed jobs, and deleted all social media in that time. I’m also a survivor of SA, as well as assault after being spiked, similar to RG in the show.

It completely baffles me that he would completely replicate his stalker down to physical likeness, occupation, accent, exact correspondences and references like hanging curtains.

He is clearly not too worried about people finding the real person, as well as her potentially contacting him again.

If it were me telling my story, I would change all identifying details of both of us, because I would NEVER want to go through it again. RG telling his story this way is hugely weird to me and really speaks to the theme of mutual obsession he hints at in the show.

Where? For stalking gadd?

You’re right I have no idea where I got 3 years from they didn’t even send her to prison for 3 years in the show l. It seems she WAS prosecuted though.

I think it's easy to forget that he did two successful shows at the Fringe on the subject of his sexual assault and being a victim of stalking (one winning the main award in Edinburgh).

There was a decent amount of press about the shows but only those who are into comedy and go to the Fringe every year would have read them. Both stories were already out there in the public domain so I guess he made the mistake of not realising this could go viral in the way it has.

Maybe it was naive of him not to think about this possibility, but similar stuff happens a lot in theatre and comedy - they get used to nobody giving their work much attention and the switch to more popular mediums must be a shock

I'm surprised how many posters are so easily convinced by what they read online. People who claim they are certain that the woman on Twitter is the stalker because they've seen 'screenshots' etc. They very well could be true but it's always good to be wary about what you read online especially with such a newsworthy subject like this.

People on this thread are saying that she didn't go to prison?

I don't know.... 'pressing charges' isn't a thing in the UK. Maybe he means he reported it to the police by that as charging or not is the decision of the CPS

The victim blaming and criticism of Richard Gadd on here is utterly disgusting tbh. Noone should judge how he's chosen to process his traumas. The Internet sleuth brigade need to stop the ridiculous intrusive obsessing it's none of our business who these people are

Who really cares?

Yeah I was totally wrong feck knows why I was so sure in my head she did. It appears she was prosecuted though. He’s stated he pressed charges but didn’t want her to go to jail.
Ultimately victims of crime should be able to talk about what happened to them. They should be able to identify their abuser.

Agree with others who have brought up the issues with the part documentary/part fiction format Netflix are very fond of.

It started with The Crown which of course was hugely popular, but for people who don't have a very good memory or a strong knowledge of British history it's difficult to pick the fact from fiction.

Now they're applying the formula to the lives of ordinary people which is going to be more of an issue (regardless of who did what and whether they're terrible people etc.)

A story like this should either be a documentary in the style of Don't F**k with Cats or completely fictionalised with an unrelated actor taking the lead role and enough details changed so no-one is identifiable.

It seems to me it's an issue because unlike Martha in the show the RL Martha wasn't charged or imprisoned which begs the question what was fact and what was fiction. With a documentary they would have had to contact her/her legal representative and given her a right to reply/right to share her side. This faux fictionalisation allows Netflix to side step that.

To be clear I am not suggesting she isn't guilty of stalking or that Gadd is not a victim just that the blurring of fact and fiction for entertainment brings with it a whole host of issues.

She basically confirmed on facebook she is Martha. She’s clearly a very deranged person

I wonder what it means to 'press charges'. I didn't think you could do that in the UK (I'm not in the UK). He doesn't seem to state himself that he pressed charges...I see the article which says he did but he's not quoted as saying that? I wonder if all he did was report it?

Yes, you can't. 'Pressing charges' doesn't exist here. The crown prosecution service is the only body to charge anyone

Is he a stand up comedian? I thought this was his whole work or has he done other stuff?

@Lalor , I think it's a commonly used phrase. When the police tracked down my stalker they were clear that I could progress things further if I wanted to - so from my own experience I know that there are times when the victim's wishes are taken into account.

Yes, I was confused by that and I read another article where he said he didn’t want her to go to prison due to her having mental health issues.

Is he?! He picked someone who looks just like Sean Foley, and then signposted the whole internet to look atSean Foley by putting a post that included his name (and no other names!) asking people to stop speculating, but that didn’t actually deny that he was the rapist.

Or by putting it out in the open the threat is gone?

I blame US TV for that phrase being known here, it's still meaningless here lol. But yes, victims wishes are taken into account but ultimately if the police decide to put it to the cps to charge, the cps are the ones who hold any power. If someone is deemed dangerous enough, the victims wishes would be overridden to put the charges forward regardless.

In my circumstance, all my stalker got was a harassment notice which aren't worth the paper they are written on

@Lalor I'm sorry to hear that. The police were useless at first in my case too. I think I just happened to get 'lucky' because a senior officer said I looked like his daughter which made him take it more seriously.

I'm glad you were taken seriously regardless of why :)

What ? Not true ? You don’t think he had one eye on the money ? If the series was an accurate reflection he didn’t exactly come off as likeable, and he was portrayed as being pissed off that the police didn’t do more, despite the fact that even after he knew what she was he still sought her out and had sex with her. ‘Martha’ in my opinion has mental health problems and is vulnerable, and is now open to being stalked herself. I don’t disagree with his right to tell his story, but I don’t see this ending well.

@Rosscameasdoody he didn't have sex with her... that was a fantasy scene.

@BodyKeepingScore is definitely right. It didn’t happen.

Virginia Guiffre have one eye on the money too did she?