Richard Osman has claimed that “everyone” in the television industry knows the identity of the sexual abuser depicted in Richard Gadd’s Netflix series Baby Reindeer.
Osman, 53, is a bestselling author who previously worked as an executive producer for a string of British game shows.
He now hosts The Rest Is Entertainment podcast with journalist Marina Hyde, and the pair discussed “The Baby Reindeer Controversy” on a recent episode.
Baby Reindeer, which is currently topping Netflix viewership charts in both the UK and US, is a semi-autobiographical series created by Gadd, based on a one-man show he performed at the Edinburgh festival.
In the show, Gadd’s character Donny is stalked by a woman named Martha, an experience which reawakens trauma caused by sexual abuse at the hands of an established television writer named Darrien. In the wake of Baby Reindeer’s success, fans have sought to identify the real identities of both Martha and Darrien despite Gadd urging them not to.
On The Rest Is Entertainment, Osman told Hyde that “everyone knows who he is talking about”.
“As you say, there’s a very, very serious thing that happens with a male comedy producer and Richard Gadd, who, as you say, did the show in Edinburgh and has been very open to people in the industry about who that person was, so people in the industry know who that person was,” said Osman.
“Now it comes out now and a completely different person is identified, someone who has produced Richard Gadd before, but is definitively not the person in any way.
“But the person they’ve cast in that role looks like this other guy, looks like the guy who’s been falsely accused. And it’s such a weird, bizarre thing to do because this poor guy has had death threats and he’s had to issue a statement to say it’s not me.
“And it is not him, definitely not because people in the industry know who it is. And it’s definitely not him.”
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
In a recent message posted on Instagram, Gadd named director and writer Sean Foley as someone “unfairly caught up in speculation” following the show’s release.
“People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly caught up in speculation,” he wrote in a Story on Monday (22 April).
“Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard x X.”
Baby Reindeer is streaming now on Netflix.
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
