‘Real-life’ Martha from ‘Baby Reindeer’ nightclub event cancelled after backlash

The Coventry nightclub which was set to host a meet and greet with Fiona Harvey – the woman claiming to be the inspiration behind Martha in Baby Reindeer – has cancelled the event following public  backlash.

Harvey was booked for an appearance at Kasbah Nightclub, who announced yesterday (May 14) that she “will be signing autographs, taking selfies and may also take a lucky reindeer home to hang her curtains,” referring to lines from the Netflix series.

Harvey did her first television interview last week on Piers Morgan Uncensored, after identifying herself as the person on whom Martha was based.

Now, Kasbah has issued another statement on Facebook where they have announced that the event has been cancelled after it was deemed “unsafe”.

The statement read: “Unfortunately, the promoter of this Saturday’s meet & greet with Fiona Harvey has deemed the event unsafe and cancelled the appearance due to the negative publicity,” before going on to thank various outlets.

The statement concludes with a promotion of the normal opening times this weekend, but still offers a discounted entry price seemingly based on the show: “Simply quote ‘Martha’ at the front door on Saturday to receive £1 off entry before midnight!”

NME has reached out to Kasbah for comment on the cancellation.

The nightclub received backlash after their initial announcement, with many opposing Harvey being given a platform. In the series, which is the semi-autobiographical account of creator and star Richard Gadd, Martha is the relentless stalker of Gadd’s protagonist, Donny.

Over the course of Baby Reindeer, Martha, who is played by Jessica Gunning, becomes increasingly involved in Donny’s life, showing up to his workplace, attacking his partner and sending him thousands of emails.

In her recent interview, Harvey denied many of the details in Baby Reindeer, and had previously called the series “a load of rubbish”.

She also confirmed that she will “absolutely” be taking legal action against Gadd, and asked him to “leave me [her] alone”.

Neither Netflix nor Gadd have commented on Harvey’s claims to be the ‘real-life’ Martha, but Netflix’s policy chief Benjamin King has said that both the streaming service and the production company “took every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story”.

Meanwhile, another British comedian has come forward claiming that she too has been targeted online by Harvey.

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