Jessica Gunning as Martha in Fawn Photo: Ed Miller/Netflix
No show has been talked about more this year than this one. Fawn, and one of the many aspects of Richard Gadd's largely autobiographical series is how much is fact and how much is fiction. It has its origins in two acclaimed shows Gadd performed at the Edinburgh Festival: Monkey See, Monkey Do in 2016, in which he detailed the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of an older, unnamed man in the entertainment industry, and in 2019 year. Baby Reindeer, in which he recounted his haunting, courtesy of an elderly woman he named Martha.
According to Gadd, she became obsessed with him and sent him 41,000 emails over three years, and when the situation worsened, the police greeted him with indifference, even suspicion.
It's a terrible situation, and the fame and (presumably) fortune that the massive success of the Netflix series brought him also had its downsides, not least the revelation that the real Martha is a woman called Fiona Harvey. who appeared on Piers Morgan's Piers Uncensored last night for a 50-minute interview with the intention of «clearing the air.» Gadd himself had asked that internet sleuths not try to delve into the real identities of Martha and «Darrien O'Connor», the alias of his abuser, but Harvey's emergence into the spotlight — in the most impressive public image imaginable — meant all bets were off are now really done.
Fiona Harvey is interviewed by Piers Morgan on his Uncensored YouTube show. Photo: YouTube
Before the interview, Harvey described Morgan as a «bully» and a «jerk» who was more comfortable talking to the likes of Andrew Tate than her. He, meanwhile, called her “smart, savvy and combative,” although he admitted that “there were moments in the interview when my suspicious alarm bells were ringing loudly.”
However, her appearance was also valuable in terms of helping to separate fact from fiction and dramatic license from journalistic truth — although it should be noted that Harvey herself can hardly be considered an accurate narrator of what happened.
But what is fictional and what is true? We are trying to delve into the real story of the fawn, with the caveat that few people will know the full truth of what happened, and therefore this can only be the most likely version of events.
Did Marta go to jail?
No.
In Fawn, in one of the film's most bizarrely touching scenes, Martha is sentenced to nine months in prison for stalking Gadd's character Donny and his family. The filmmakers' skill is to make her seem pathetic and therefore sympathetic, stripping her of all bombast and menace and turning her into a flawed, fallible human being. However, this is completely fictitious; Harvey was never even arrested, let alone sent to prison.
As she told Morgan: “That's completely untrue. This is very, very discrediting to me and damaging to my career. And I wanted to completely subvert that on this show. I'm not a stalker. I haven't been to prison. I have no prescriptions. And this is just complete nonsense.»
She continued, “I heard about the trial scene and the jail time and all that stuff… I didn't watch any of it. I think I would be sick [if I watched it]. This has taken up enough time in my life. I find it quite obscene.» To put it into perspective, she called the whole thing «very, very libelous» and said she was considering suing Netflix and Gadd.
Donnie offered Martha a cup of tea?
Yes
The two begin an on-screen relationship when Donny offers Martha a free cup of tea at the pub where he works. Harvey denied the specific drink but admitted she was thirsty. As she told Morgan: “He didn't offer me a cup of tea… I was going to have lunch with a drink of lemonade and I was very, very hungry. I'm diabetic, so I'm very hungry. So it's true.» In any case, she rejected any suggestions that she was ever close to Gadd. “He [worked] as a part-time benefits bartender at the Hawley Arms. And we met two or three times.»
Jessica Gunning as Martha in Fawn Photo: Ed Miller/Netflix
She subsequently increased that number to «five or six times» under further questioning. She also suggested that it was he, not she, who initiated the conversation by saying, «Oh, you're Scottish,» and that he was «commanding» the conversation. She even laid the blame on him on the grounds that, “You know, I was talking to someone. It's quite rich. So from that moment on he seemed to be obsessed with me.”
Was Martha obsessively emailing Donny?
No (in her version)
The series suggests that Martha emailed Donny 41,000 times, left him 350 hours of voicemails — which the series says he listened to so intensely that they became a constant soundtrack to his daily routine — and contacted him through everything forms of social networking that you can imagine.
According to Harvey, this is purely dramatic license. In her words: “It’s simply not true. If someone sent someone 41,000 emails or something like that, how many would they make per day? A lot of. She admitted to Morgan that «there may have been a couple of emails exchanged, but it was just… playful banter emails» and that «less than ten» were sent in total.
Piers Morgan is pressuring Fiona Harvey for denying sending several voicemails to Richard Gadd.
«The only explanation would be that he was taping me in Hawley. Weapons,” she says.
📺 https://t.co/TSXzPg7TUK@piersmorgan | #MarthaUncensored pic.twitter.com/ZuBfX3K1O4
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) May 9, 2024
She admitted to emailing him and tweeting at him «about 18» times, but denied ever contacting him on Facebook or messaging him. When asked why Gadd included it in the series, she replied, «I have no idea.» She further suggested, “I didn’t call this guy. I don't have his number» and that «the only explanation for receiving a voicemail from me would be that I was taped at the Hawley Arms.» The fact that Gadd was able to use numerous voicemails from «Martha» during his Edinburgh show may suggest that this explanation is, at the very least, untrue. Morgan called her “strong and categorical denials” “provably false.”
Has Donnie ever visited Martha at home?
No
In some of the drama's most touching and bizarre scenes, Donnie stalks Martha in her squalid and run-down apartment, indicating the growing obsession he feels for her. However, according to Harvey, all these moments are nothing more than Gadd's fertile imagination. “[This is] a lie… I didn’t see him at my house. I think it would have been impossible to look out the window… that absolutely did not happen.” It could go further. In one of the show's most outrageous moments — which thankfully turns out to be nothing more than a fantasy — Donnie even has sex with Martha at her home; this issue was not discussed during the interview.
Jessica Gunning in the movie «Fawn» Photo: Netflix Did Martha have multiple addresses email?< p>Yes
Many of us may have separate emails for work and personal correspondence; some may even have a third channel through which they send unwanted spam and junk email. However, very few of us have six emails. Harvey, however, admitted that this was true, saying: «At one point I had six… I like people to use different phones and different emails.» She refused to admit that this was particularly unusual, stating that «it's just easier…you have a little for utilities, a little for close friends, and so on.»
Her emails also came from several different phones, and she admitted, “I like keeping people on different phones too… maybe that makes me a maniac or a stalker or something. But if you have a question for someone about your electric bill or someone about a job or something, it’s good to keep it separate.” She went on to explain that “they were really old [phones],” as if that made the accusation less likely.
Were Martha and Donnie friends or something else?
No
One of the reasons why the central dynamic between the characters in Fawn is both sad and confusing is that they develop a friendship of sorts in the first place; Not only does Donnie give Martha the most fateful cup of tea in television history, but they chat and seem to have a warm, if initially casual, relationship. However, according to Harvey, all this is nothing more than Gadd's invention. When he asked her if the writer had ever been her friend, she told Morgan: “No, no. The staff also asked me about this. I don't think so». She admitted they had some «Scottish banter» together but insisted it didn't go any further.
As for any romantic interest, she was openly suspicious of him, saying, “No, I brushed him off. One day he asked me to sleep with him and one day a big green spot appeared on his face. I said, “No, sorry, I’m not interested.” However, the grim euphemism for Donnie «fixing Martha's curtains» has some roots in reality, according to Harvey. “He asked, 'Do I want to fix the curtains?' And I laughed… I brushed him off big time.” She dismissed the world's most talked about actor and writer with contempt, saying: «I don't like little boys without a proper job» and advising him to «get a job» and leave her alone.
Has Martha ever been to Donnie's concert?
Yes
Some of the show's scariest moments occur when Donnie tries to do his inimitable anti-comedy act, only for Martha to appear and upstage him, either laughing hysterically or simply shouting insults at him. Harvey admitted that «I think I went to one,» which she quickly clarified by saying that «that was a long, long time [ago],» although when Morgan pressed whether she was interrupting or suggesting her own special audience . She denied her participation, saying: “I don’t usually go to comedy shows.”
Richard Gadd performing Baby Reindeer in 2019. Photo: Andrew Perry. Did Martha attack Donnie's girlfriend?
No (according to her)
In one of the series' most disturbing moments, Martha becomes so jealous and angry at the sight of Donnie's transsexual friend Teri that she grabs her in a pub and attacks her, trying to pull out her hair and mocking her. apparently masculine qualities. However, Harvey was dismissive of this portrayal of her and commented: “I never went to his house or attacked his girlfriend or anything like that.”
Richard Gadd and Nava Mau in the movie «Fawn»
She also suggested that Gadd, who spoke openly about his bisexuality during the interview, «I think he's, shall we say, gay.» Harvey also suggested that she had a lawyer boyfriend, whom she had been dating for the past five years, who found judgmental judgments about his lover's name and reputation «horrible.»
Is the story behind the title true?
Yes
In the series, Martha dubbed Donnie with the creepy nickname “deer.” At the end it is revealed that she named him after a children's toy that she loved madly and which was her constant companion during her deeply unhappy children. Harvey told Morgan it was actually based on it, saying, «It's true… I accidentally gave it the name of the show.» However, she suggested that the name was not based on a childhood trauma, but on the fact that Gadd resembled one of the main animals with a shaved head, and the fact that since they met at Christmas, stuffed animals could be found in all stores .
Who is Darrien O'Connor?
Unknown
This question was understandably left out of Morgan's interview, but the true identity of Gadd's abuser remains a closely guarded secret, despite Richard's recent comment Osman that everyone in the entertainment industry knows who he is.
Tom Goodman-Hill as Darrien in the film «Fawn»
Various unfortunate people got into the frame, but really Whether Gadd comes forward to say who it is — which seems highly unlikely — or whether the abuser decides to appear on Morgan's show or similar to offer his side of the story, this aspect of Gadd's eventful and traumatic past will remain a mystery.
Fawn is now on Netflix
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