“Baby Reindeer”'s Richard Gadd Explains Why He Didn't See His Stalker as 'Someone Who Was a Villain'

"I struggle with a sort of toxic empathy problem," the actor said during a panel with costars Jessica Gunning and Nava Mau

Richard Gadd, the creator and star of the Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, feels “sorry” for his former stalker.

During a For Your Consideration event for TV Academy members on Tuesday, May 7, Gadd, 34, sat for a panel with costars Nava Mau and Jessica Gunning, director Weronika Tofilska and editor Peter Oliver. Asked about his experience with the woman who stalked him, Gadd admitted, “I struggle with a sort of toxic empathy problem.”

Despite the “relentless” stalking that “felt like it was everywhere” and made him feel his life “wasn’t really functioning,” Gadd remembered still having “these unbelievable pangs of feeling sorry for her.”

“She’d say something in one of these voicemails, and I would be like, 'Oh my god, at the end of the day, she’s just someone who’s in a lot of pain,'" he said, adding that he thought it was “way more important” to convey her story with sympathy than “woe is me.”

He concluded, “I never saw someone who was a villain. I saw someone who was lost by the system, really. I saw someone who needed help and wasn’t getting it.”

Related: Baby Reindeer's Ending Explained: What Does It All Mean?

Last week, an unnamed woman alleged to the Daily Mail in an interview that she inspired Gadd’s fictional stalker Martha (played by Gunning). She told the outlet that she was considering legal action for defamation against Gadd, claiming she has “received death threats and abuse” from his supporters.

“He’s using Baby Reindeer to stalk me now,” she accused, adding that he was “bullying an older woman on television for fame and fortune.”

The overnight sensation series is adapted from Gadd’s one-man show of the same name. In an interview with The Guardian, he said that altered some events to “create dramatic climaxes” but maintained that the show is directly inspired by true stories from his life.

Related: 8 Shows Like Baby Reindeer to Watch After Streaming the Netflix Hit

Despite Baby Reindeer’s autobiographical nature, the screenwriter does not want people to seek out the characters' real-life equivalents. After fans incorrectly identified director Sean Foley as the successful TV writer who assaulted him, Gadd took to Instagram Stories to request viewers not “speculate” further.

“That’s not the point of the show,” he wrote.

The Sex Education writer has also faced controversy for his professional conduct during the dark comedy’s casting process. Deadline reported that Baby Reindeer’s production company looked into claims made by transgender actress Reece Lyons that Gadd was romantically involved with her during the audition process. At the end of the investigation, the company found that Gadd had behaved professionally and did not compromise casting decisions.

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All 7 episodes of Baby Reindeer are available to stream on Netflix.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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