The “Baby Reindeer” creator asks fans to stop speculating

A comedian wrote a hit TV series based on his real-life character Experiences with being stalked. Now he's asking fans of the show to stop spying on themselves.

“Baby Reindeer” star and star Richard Gadd previously said diverse His series, which follows a character named Donnie who is being stalked, is “100% emotionally true.” But the fictional stalker character, Martha, is not meant to resemble her real-life counterpart. Actually, serious He told GQ that the show went into “a great deal of disguise”. [his stalker] So much so that I don't think she would recognize herself.

However, since the release of Baby Reindeer on Netflix earlier this month, fans have been spreading unsubstantiated theories online, trying to link images of the show to real-life similarities.

Viewers were hunting for Martha's real identity, as well as the character of Darren, a TV comedy writer who sexually assaults Gad's character. Fans online began accusing Sean Foley, the British actor, writer and director, of being the real Darren, without any evidence.

On Monday, Gad posted a statement on his Instagram Story asking fans to retract their unfounded speculation.

“People I love, work with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are being unfairly speculated on,” Gad wrote. “Please don't speculate on who any of the real people could be. That's not the point of our show.”

Representatives for Gadd, Netflix and Foley did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Gadd's Instagram story comes amid growing interest surrounding the show and fans' drive to “armchair investigate.” Experts previously told NBC News that the desire to investigate, which has become popular online, is a symptom of the Internet's obsession with true crime and its desire to engage in gossip.

Gad said he's not worried about his former stalker contacting him in the wake of the Netflix series, which he adapted from a one-man show he performed at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

“Given where things have ended up in real life, that's not a concern for me,” he told Variety.

But this kind of fan reaction can be a problem.

On Monday, Foley posted a statement, writingHe added: “The police have been informed and are investigating all the offensive and threatening posts against me.”

In his interview with Variety, Gad said there's a reason he can't reveal honest details.

“I mean there is some protection, you can't copy someone else's life and name and put it on TV,” he said. “And obviously we were very aware that some of the characters in it are vulnerable people, so we didn't want to make their lives any more difficult. So you have to change things to protect yourself and protect others.”