Netflix has responded to concerns about its hit show Baby Reindeer after it emerged that fans had been speculating about the identities of characters online.
Billed as a 'true story', the show is based on the experiences of comedian Richard Gadd, including his account of being sexually abused during the early stages of his comedy career.
Following the show's enormous success on Netflix, viewers have been drawn into speculation online about the identity of Gadd's abuser.
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The speculation prompted concern in a UK parliament hearing from Scottish National Party MP John Nicolson over false allegations being made online, as well as the danger of those involved being publicly named.
Online speculation has already led to one person being falsely identified as Gadd's alleged abuser in the show.
It has also led to someone being publicly dubbed as his alleged stalker.
Gadd has already called for viewers of the show to stop trying to guess who the characters in the show are inspired by.
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The comedian called the speculation 'quite sad' and said it was 'not the point of the show at all.'
Now Netflix has given its first public comment following Nicolson's concern.
Netflix policy chief Benjamin King spoke to a UK parliament hearing, saying that the streamer took 'every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story'.
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Nicolson pointed out that these measures had not prevented those claiming to have found the 'real life Martha'.
King explained that Netflix had tried to balance protecting the identities of those involved with the 'veracity and authenticity' of Gadd's story.
He told parliamentarians: “We didn’t want to anonymize that or make it generic to the point where it was no longer his story because that would undermine the intent behind the show."
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The policy chief added: “Ultimately, it’s obviously very difficult to control what viewers do, particularly in a world where everything is amplified by social media.
“I personally wouldn’t be comfortable with a world in which we decided it was better that Richard was silenced and not allowed to tell the story.
“I cannot get into the specifics of what happened around the making of the show because it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment. I don’t want to give further fuel to some of the theories which are circling on the internet.”
Earlier this week, it was announced that a woman named Fiona Harvey - who has been dubbed the ‘real-life Martha’ - is set to appear on TV for a ‘tell-all’ interview with Piers Morgan.
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However, she later told the Daily Record that Morgan refused to accept her side of the story, saying: "There was a heavy emphasis from Piers Morgan on Gadd and the emails I am supposed to have sent.
"I have my own thoughts on it that I’d like to keep to myself but I wouldn’t say I was happy. It was very rapid to try to trip me up. He did it fast paced to catch me off guard.
"Piers kept saying to me ‘are you sure you haven’t sent this guy 41,000 emails and phone calls?’. A lot of the interview, for a good 10 minutes, he kept coming back to this.
"I said, ‘Look, even if I had sent some emails, it doesn’t mean I’m guilty of the rest of the stuff. As I said, in order to bill something as a true story, it’s got to be pretty much 100% true.
"It seemed to me that I was set up. I feel a bit used."
Harvey’s interview with Piers Morgan will air at 8.00pm tonight (BST), May 9, in the UK.
Baby Reindeer follows the story of an aspiring comedian as he struggles with the trauma of being sexually assaulted and a stalker.
It has become a huge hit for the streamer, drawing in some 54 million views since it was released on April 11.
Topics: News, UK News, US News, Netflix, Film and TV, Baby Reindeer
Kit Roberts